A Light On In Chicago A Patrick Stump FanFiction
by InLoveWithPatrickStump
Summary: Spencer gets the opportunity to live it up on tour with her favorite band Fall Out Boy. As the lead singer, Patrick, and her fall for each other, they make some mistakes. Will these mistakes cost Spencer her future? Rated M for explicit later chapters/sex
1. Chapter 1

My eyes felt heavy with sleep as I turned over and turned off my alarm. I slowly got up, turned on my light, grabbed my bathrobe, and headed down the hallway of our tiny apartment. _One more day..._I thought to myself._ Only one more day in that hell-hole._ It was my last day of high school. Thank God I had enough credits to graduate early. It was only January of my senior year, but by doubling up on my classes since my sophomore year, I had managed to be able to finish school already. I took a very quick, cold shower thanks to my sister, who had already used up the hot water this morning. Brian had probably stayed the night with her and I guess he had to go to work this morning. I shivered, dripping wet, as I grabbed two towels. I wrapped my hair in one, dried off my body with the other, and shrugged into my warm fleece bathrobe. I opened the door and walked back to my room. I looked at the clock. _Shit. _It was already 7:40. I had 15 minutes to finish getting ready or else I'd be late. I grabbed my favorite jeans, a t-shirt, and my NYU hoodie and put them on as fast as I could. I threw my hair up into a messy, still wet bun and gracefully slapped on some black eyeliner and mascara. I grabbed my backpack and purse, slid on a pair of flip-flops and headed towards the kitchen. My sister Chelsey was sitting at the table with Brian, her boyfriend. I walked in, grabbed a cup of coffee, filled it with creamer and was about to walk out the front door when Chels stopped me.

"Spencer, I'm working late tonight again so if anyone calls take a message." she reminded as she eyed what I was wearing. "Flip-flops in January?" she questioned, her eyes narrowing at me.

"Ok, whatever." I answered hurriedly, while rolling my eyes. She knew I wore flip-flops all year long. I hate it when my toes are cooped up. "But I won't be home till a little after five. Me, Kylie, and Nicole are going to Auburn, to eat at China Wok, after school. Which reminds me I have to go NOW to pick Kylie up. She'll get pissed if we're late."

"Ok,ok" said Chelsey. "Go. Have a good last day!"

I turned around and headed out the door towards my car. I walked towards the driver's side and threw my backpack and purse in the backseat right before I slid in behind the steering wheel. I stuck my keys in the ignition and the stereo blared loudly as the music from one of my favorite bands, Fall Out Boy, filled the car. I drove quickly towards Kylie's house. It was only a 3 or 4 minute drive but I was already late. She was sitting on the porch when I arrived. She had an annoyed look on her face as she swung open the door to my orange Honda Element.

"Finally.", she scoffed, her long almost platinum blonde hair blowing in her face as she threw her stuff in the back with mine and hopped up in the passenger seat beside of me.

"Sorry." I said as apologetic as I could sound. Truly the only thing I cared about right now was getting this day over with.

"So, I asked Bret if he wanted to come eat with us today after school. Is that okay with you?" she asked while fixing her hair in my mirror. "I mean it is sorta like your going away dinner so I figured I'd better ask."

"Sure, I don't care." I said, still sleepy from this morning. "Have you decided if you're gonna date him or not?"

My eyes wandered over to hers curiously.

"I doubt it.", she giggled. "I mean, I guess he's ok but it couldn't turn in to anything long term..."

"Ky, you don't even know the definition of a long term relationship." I said, correcting her.

"True. Very true actually. But I don't care." she added with a smile. Just then her phone rang.

"It's Bret. Hold on a sec." She flipped open her phone and put it quickly to her ear. That girl couldn't keep from flirting even over the phone. I giggled to myself as I listened to her talk to Bret.

I had known Kylie since the beginning of 7th grade. She had been my best friend since I moved to small-town Aurora, New York almost six years ago. Since then we had spent almost every moment of our lives together. It was weird because we were almost total opposites. I was shy and quiet and spent a lot of time alone. Kylie was not and had about a million friends. The first week of school I had her pegged in my mind as prep. With her long blonde hair, tan skin and perfect blue eyes, she always had guys hanging all over her. But the weird thing was, she seemed not to notice. We became friends through a project that we were assigned partners on in science class and immediately clicked. With her help I met all sorts of people and we became best friends. We went everywhere and did everything together. Pretty soon, I felt at home in Aurora. Hanging out with Kylie certainly had its perks. We were both always invited to parties. If one of us wasn't invited, the other one most likely wasn't either. Our friends knew we were inseparable. Most of the time, they thought of us as one person. I often didn't know how they could manage that one, as different as we are. Kylie was beautiful, tall, perky, loud, and a flirt. And me...well...I was just average.

There was absolutely nothing special about me. I was short and kind of pale with brownish-blonde or blondish-brown hair. (I couldn't really decide what color it actually was.) I didn't think I was ugly or anything, just...average. I mean, I had boyfriends, so evidently guys find me attractive, but not nearly as many as Kylie. She could never just pick one. I saw her hang up the phone. I giggled again and then felt sad for a moment. I thought about how much I was going to miss her. Not seeing her everyday I mean. As if she was reading my mind, she reached over and grabbed me in a hug.

"I'm gonna miss you so much, Spencer." she said sticking out her bottom lip into a pout.

"Aww." I answered. "I'm gonna miss you too." I hugged her back with one arm, keeping the other on the wheel.

"Now I'll have to ride the bus to school until my car gets fixed." she whined, her real pout turning into a fake one. She was trying not to smile.

"Oh, poor baby" I laughed. Just then we pulled into the parking lot of Aurora High.

I pulled into space 83, my assigned parking space and turned off the car, pulling the keys out of the ignition. Kylie was already out of the car before I had a chance to look over.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" I asked.

"Oh, I don't know." she answered back sarcastically. "Maybe it's because we only have 3 minutes to get to first period."

"Shit!" I almost yelled looking at the clock on the front of the school. I realized she was right and quickly grabbed my stuff out of the back. We ran into the school up to the second floor where she turned left for English and I turned right for my Pre-Cal final. I had three last finals to take today and then I was done forever. "See you after school. Meet me at the car." I called over my shoulder to her and she hurriedly made her way down the hall.

"Okay, see ya." she called back.

The day inched by as slowly as it could. By lunch I was ready to bang my head into a wall. I walked through the line and grabbed a tray, not even thinking about what I was doing. I sat down with Nicole, my second best friend, Sara, Rose and her boyfriend Shawn.

"How goes the finals?" asked Nicole curiously, not noticing that her red-blonde hair was dragging itself through the pile of brown mush on her tray that was supposed to be tacos.

"Ok, I guess." I answered with a smile. "Only one more to go and it's an easy one."

"Good!" she said cheerfully. "So, China Wok after school?"

"Yep"

"Oh my gosh, I absolutely LOVE that place!" said Rose a grin spreading across her face. "Who all is going?"

"So far only me, Kylie, Brent, and Nicole, but we have room for more. You wanna come?" I asked politely. I didn't know Rose very well but from what I knew she was nice.

"Sure! Right after school?" she answered back.

"Uh-huh."

"Ok, I'll be there." she said cheerfully.

The rest of lunch, in fact the rest of the day passed quickly. Finally the bell rang and I headed out to my car. Kylie was already waiting.

"Ready to eat?" she asked.

"I'm starving." I groaned, just now realizing I hadn't eaten very much at lunch. "By the way, Rose Johnson is coming, okay?"

"Sure, no problem.", she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

We hopped in to the car to make the 30 minute or so drive to the nearby town of Auburn to eat at China Wok, my favorite Chinese restaurant of all time. When we got there I pulled in the empty space beside Nicole's car and went in. Everyone was already there and had a table. This surprised me because the place tended to get crowded and I wasn't entirely sure we would be able to get in at all. We sat down and waited for the waitress to take our drink orders and then headed to the buffet. I was the last one back to the table and I could tell something we up by Nicole and Kylie's attempts to hide their smiles. I looked at them suspiciously until they finally spoke.

"So..." started Kylie. "Since you won't get to graduate with the rest of us, me and Nicole put our heads together and thought of a sort of graduation present we could give you." The smile on both of their faces turned into a huge grin. "Now you can't be mad..."

"Uh-oh...this doesn't sound good." I remarked.

"No, it IS!" shouted Nicole. "You're gonna love it...after we get past the _first_ part."

"Ok, what is it?" I took a deep breath, not knowing at all what this was going to be.

"Well, first things first, I thought you might want this back." Kylie fumbled around in her oversized purse for a minute and pulled out a composition book with the word _LYRICS _scrawled across the front of it. I knew immediately it was mine. I had been writing song lyrics for years and all of them had ended up in that book. I hadn't seen it for about a month though and I had figured I lost it.

"You found it!" I screamed, overjoyed.

"You left it at my house when we were working on physics homework." announced Kylie. "Now, here's the part you might be mad about." she started again, picking at her nails nervously. I shifted back against the seat figuring I had better get comfortable. "See there was this lyric writing contest. I found your book and I thought you should enter, but I knew you never would. I talked to Nicole about it and she thought you had a good chance of winning. So we sent in a couple of songs."

"Ky-lie!" I groaned.

"Wait, before you say anything else." interrupted Nicole. "Kylie got an e-mail two days ago from the contest people. It has been so hard keeping this a secret but...YOU WON!..."

"No way!" I gasped.

"You did!" she answered back. "And you'll never guess what your prize is..." She handed me a copy of the e-mail she had printed off. "This is the good part." she added.

My jaw dropped and I almost passed out as I read what it said:

_Spencer,_

_Thank you for entering your wonderful lyrics in our competition. We are happy to inform you that you have won. Your lyrics will be featured in February 10th's issue of Music Scene Magazine. Your lyrics are great and you deserve this honor very much._

"Oh my gosh!" I almost whispered. "My lyrics are going to be published in _Music Scene_!"

"That's not even the part you should be excited about. Keep reading!" Kylie urged.

My eyes fell back to where I had left off.

_As promised in the contest rules, also included are plane tickets to Chicago, IL where Fall Out Boy's next tour is kicking off. A limo will be sent to pick you and one friend up at the airport and to take you to the show. You will have the opportunity to tour with the one and only Fall Out Boy for two months on their own personal tour bus, tickets to all shows and backstage passes included. Thank you for participating in our contest and we hope you enjoy your prize._

My brain froze right then, preventing me from even reading the signature at the bottom.

"Spencer, what else does it say?" asked Rose curiously. Evidently she hadn't been let in on this little scheme.

"I-I-I..." I stammered unable to speak. "I'm...going on tour with...Fall Out Boy!"

I screamed ecstatically while Kylie, Nicole, and Brent laughed, and Rose's jaw dropped to the floor. Just then the manager shot us a dirty look and whispered something in Chinese to a worker. I tried my best to calm down but it wasn't working.

"I don't know how to thank you guys!" I squealed pulling them both into a hug at the same time. Just then a thought sunk in. "But I'm only allowed to bring one friend. How am I gonna choose?" I said with a frown.

"Don't worry about it!" laughed Nicole. "You should take Kylie. It was mostly her idea anyway and I'll be gone to Europe for 3 or 4 weeks of that time."

"Awwww! You guys are the best!" I screamed. I couldn't help bouncing up and down in my seat a little. We chattered non-stop the rest of the meal and I couldn't stop thinking about it even after I dropped Kylie off and pulled into the parking lot of my apartment complex.


	2. Chapter 2

"CHELS!!" I screamed running inside towards the kitchen. Brian came sauntering down the hallway.

"Whoa, what's the matter Spencer?" he asked, his pretty green eyes showing signs of panic. I could see why my sister loved him so much. "Chelsey already left for work about a half an hour ago. I was just about to walk out the door."

"Nothing is the matter! That's the point! Kylie and Nicole sent in my lyrics to a contest and now they are gonna be published in _Music Scene Magazine_ because I won. The prize is that I get to go on tour with my favorite band for three months!!" I was out of breath by then and I could tell that for a second Brian thought I was joking. Then he realized I was serious.

"Oh my gosh! That's great!" he yelled, grabbing me into a hug. "Fall Out Boy?" I nodded with a grin. "Wow, I'm so proud of you! And I know Chels will be too!" He let go.

"Thanks Brian! Could you do me a favor and keep it a secret until I get a chance to tell her?"

"Sure, no problem." he answered with a smile. "Anything for my future little sis."

I smiled back. Chels was 23 and her and Brian had been engaged for a long time. He had been like a dad and brother to me since Chelsey and I lost out parents less than a year after we moved to Aurora.

Brian mentioned that he had to leave now. I told him bye and then hurried up to my room. I changed into sweatpants and flopped down on my bed hitting the remote for my stereo and starting another Fall Out Boy CD to play. I laid there for a minute and let it sink in. Then I hopped up and ran to my computer. I looked up Fall Out Boy's tour dates. The first show was in Chicago a week before school ended for Kylie. Oh, well. She could just take her exams early. I'd help her study when I wasn't taking night classes at the community college. I looked at who they were on tour with. Cute is what we aim for, Panic the disco, and The Academy Is... I leaned my head back in the chair and sighed. This just kept getting better and better. I grabbed my cell out of the pocket of my jeans that lay crumpled up on the floor. I dialed Kylie's number to tell her my findings. We spent about 3 hours talking about it excitedly. Just then I heard the door shut down the hall.

"Spencer, I'm home." called Chels as she made her way through the house. I quickly told Kylie bye and went to find Chelsey.

"Chels, you'll never guess what happened." I said with a grin.

"What?" she asked sitting her coat down on her bed.

"Well don't freak out but Kylie and Nicole sent in some of my lyrics to a contest for _Music Scene_ and now they are gonna be published in it because I won. The prize is that I get to go on tour with Fall Out Boy for three months!!" I recanted almost the exact same thing I had said to Brian earlier.

"Yea...right." she said laughing and rolling her eyes.

"What? I'm serious. I'll prove it!" I ran back to my room and grabbed the email and thrust it into her hands.

She read it slowly, her eyes scanning the paper warily. Finally she looked up, a grin on her face.

"Wow, I'm so proud of you!" she hugged me tightly.

"Brian told me that you'd say that." I said hugging back. " So can I go?"

"Why are you asking me?" she asked with a smile. "You're a high school graduate now."

"Yeah, but I'm still 17 so you are my legal guardian." I reminded.

"Yeah, but only until June, and what kind of sister would I be if didn't let you go spend three months with your celebrity crush and his band? A pretty sucky one, right?" I knew "celebrity crush" referred to Patrick Stump, the band's lead singer whom I had been in love with ever since I knew who Fall Out Boy was.

"Absolutely horrible." I agreed with a smile. It was offical. In less than four months, I would be riding along on Fall Out Boy's tour bus with my best friend. Thank God Kylie was already 18. Her parents were just a LITTLE uptight and I know they wouldn't have agreed to it if she had to ask.

The months dragged by slowly...February...March...April...finally it was May.

In one day, I would be meeting Patrick Stump. Just the thought sent goose bumps up my arms as I finished packing my last bag. _I hope there is a lot of room on that bus_, I thought to myself. I only had one suitcase, a duffle bag, and a purse, but knowing Kylie, she would probably bring her whole closet. I went over my mental list of things I would need and realized I had forgot my favorite pair of pajama pants. I looked through my drawers but couldn't find them anywhere. "Damn." I said out loud. They are probably in the dirty clothes hamper. I went to look. I searched through the entire thing and finally found them at the bottom. Our washer had broken last week and I needed those pants, so I ran back to my room and grabbed my phone. I quickly dialed the familiar number and pressed the phone to my ear. It rang twice and then she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ky, what's up?"

"Nothing, just getting ready to put in a load of laundry."

"Wait! Don't start it yet! Can I throw a pair of pants in there since our washer is broken?"

"Sure, come on over. You can help me decide what to wear tomorrow so I look good for Pete."

We both laughed. I should have known she was waiting to sink her hooks into him.

"Ok, I'll be over in about 5 minutes."

"See ya then."

We hung up and I ran to get ready. I threw my messy hair up into a ponytail and slipped on my flip-flops and jacket over my t-shirt and sweatpants. I grabbed my pants and phone and ran to the kitchen to leave Chelsey a note. She was already there and I just hadn't heard her come in.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Hey, I'm going to Kylie's to wash these pants and help her pack for the trip, okay?"

"Okay, how long are you gonna stay?"

"I'll be home before midnight. See ya."

"Bye."

I could tell my help was much needed by the time I stepped in Kylie's room. There were clothes, shoes, belts, purses, headbands, and everything under the sun strewn all around her room. There was stuff on top of her bed, her chair, her dresser, and you could barely see the floor. "Wow. Need some help?" I asked with a laugh.

"Ha...maybe just a little." she laughed back. "I can't decide what to pack. Oh...just throw those pants in the washer and push the start button."

I looked down and saw the pants in my hand. I hadn't realized that I was still holding them. I nodded and flew down the hallway, started the washer and headed back to Kylie's room. We began the task of sorting through the enormous mountain.

"Hey, can you and Chels pick me up when she takes you to the airport tomorrow because my mom and dad won't be home to take me?" Kylie asked while folding a pair of jeans.

"Chels has to work in the morning so Brian is gonna take me, but he wouldn't care to take you too."

"Ok great!" she said with a smile.

"Why don't you just spend the night?" I suggested. "Chelsey won't care and that will make tomorrow morning that much easier."

"Sure, that will work." she answered.

We kept packing until 11:20 and then decided to load up her bags in my car. We went back in to tell her parents goodbye and then headed back to my house. When we got there Chelsey was just about to go to bed.

"Hey girls!" she said cheerfully. "I'm gonna go to sleep now because I have to work tomorrow but Brian said he'd be here around one to pick you up for the airport. Are you spending the night Kylie?"

"If it's okay with you." Kylie replied back smiling.

"Of course it is. No problem." Chels turned and started back to her room. "Goodnight girls."

Kylie and I left her stuff by the front door so it would be ready for tomorrow morning. I finished packing my last bag and set my luggage by Kylie's, making sure that everything was there.

"Well, we're all packed." I said with a yawn.

"Yep, let's go to bed now." she replied with a tired smile. "We need our beauty rest for when we meet Fall Out Boy."

I laughed as we headed to my room to go to sleep. I laid there for about an hour but I couldn't fall asleep. I looked over at Kylie sleeping peacefully beside me. I knew I needed to fall asleep soon but I was just way too excited. I got up quietly not wanting to wake Kylie and headed towards the kitchen to make a glass of warm milk. I drank it slowly and headed back up to bed. It seemed like only 5 minutes and I was out like a light, leaving me to dream peacefully about the day to come.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day was very hectic. Kylie and I both overslept and only had thirty minutes to get ready before Brian got there. Needless to say, we weren't ready in time. Brian let us have almost an extra hour and then hurried us out the door so we wouldn't miss our plane. We barely got there in time but we made it. Our plane was small and didn't have any entertainment so I soon fell asleep. I woke up with a jolt as the wheels of the plane touched the ground.

"Welcome to the Chicago O'Hare Airport." blared the pilots voice over the loud speaker. "Baggage claim is located on the ground floor in terminal B. Have a nice day and thank you for flying with us."

"We're here!" I squealed with sleepy delight.

"I know I can hardly believe it!" Kylie squealed back. "Where do we meet whoever we are supposed to meet?"

"Um...baggage claim, I guess." I shrugged my shoulders, not entirely sure. We followed the signs to baggage claim trying to hide our excitement as we made our way down the escalators.

I found my last bag on the revolving luggage belt in baggage claim and looked around for Kylie. I heard my name being yelled behind me and turned around to see her with her bags waving me in the direction of a man wearing a black suit and hat who was holding a sign that said my last name. I grabbed my bags and we headed over towards him.

"Hi." I started, sticking out my hand to shake his. "I'm Spencer Whitaker and this is Kylie Practor."

He shook my hand with a smile and asked. "You're the winner of the contest?"

I nodded my head. "And Kylie is my friend I was aloud to bring."

"Okay" he said. "I'm Charlie, your limo driver. The car is just outside, but I'll need to see your security passes before we load your bags up."

"No problem." I grabbed the passes out of my purse and showed them to him.

"You girls might wanna put those around your neck. You'll need them a lot the next couple months."

We slid them around our necks and grabbed some bags while Charlie grabbed the rest of them and lead us out the door to the limo. He loaded our stuff into the back and then opened our door for us. I slid in first. I looked around at the huge limo and took a seat near the front. The interior was black and white leather and had stylish lights all around and even a sunroof. I felt Kylie slide in next to me as I looked at the black mini fridge in the corner. A folded piece of what looked like construction paper was sitting on top. I stood to cross the limo to that corner, bumping my head as Charlie shut the driver door and the vibrations echoed throughout the back of the car. I sat down next to the fridge and took the paper off the top and started to read.

_Congratulations on winning the contest in Music Scene. Your driver will be dropping you off at the opening concert here in Chicago at the backstage entrance. He will take your bags to the Fall Out Boy offical tour bus while you hang out backstage for a while and enjoy the concert. We can't wait to meet you and will see you soon._

At the bottom, neatly scrawled in four different handwritings their names...

_Pete, Patrick, Andy, and Joe_

"Kylie look!" I yelled thrusting the paper over to her. "They signed this!"

"Hold on a sec!" she yelled back, the limo phone to her ear.

"What are you doing?" I demanded. Too late. She wasn't listening.

"Charlie?" she said with a questioning voice. "How long till we get there?"

I waited patiently.

"Okay thanks!" she said with a laugh and hung up the phone. "15 minutes till we meet Fall Out Boy."

I squealed with delight. I imagined Patrick's face as I looked down at the signature on the card. _He touched this paper._ I thought to myself. Just thinking about it almost gave me a cold chill.

About 15 or 20 minutes later the limo finally stopped and I could hardly hold in my anticipation. I waited as patiently as I could while Charlie opened the door for us. I hopped out and waited for Kylie to do the same. I turned around and saw a man in a shirt that said "SECURITY" on it walking towards us.

"Can I help you ladies?" he asked in his booming yet still polite voice.

"This is the contest winner and her guest, sir. They are here to see Fall Out Boy." Charlie answered for us.

"Passes please?" the security guard asked, his hand held out.

Kylie and I both took off our passes and handed them to him for a closer look. After looking them over front and back he seemed satisfied and handed them back. "Follow me please." The way he said it made it almost sound like an order. However we obeyed with no questions asked.

"Bye girls," said Charlie with a smile. "I'll make sure your luggage gets on the bus safe and sound. Have a good night."

"You too Charlie." I called.

"Thank you." added Kylie. Then we followed the man into the building and up 2 flights of stairs until we reached a hallway full of bustling people. He led us to the next to last room on the right that another security guard with a nametag that said "Frank" was standing in front of.

"These are the contest winners Frank." said the security guard we had been following. "I'm not sure where I'm supposed to take them."

"I'll take care of them. Thanks." answered Frank. Frank was a muscular guy but not as big as the other guy. His tone of voice wasn't as intimidating either, so it was a relief as the other guard left. "Welcome guys!" he greeted us both with handshakes. "The band is doing their sound check right now so if you wanna wait right in here it's fine." He opened the door behind him with a pair of keys and let us into the room. It was not a very special room. Plain white, nothing on the walls. The only things in there were a few wardrobe racks, a large couch, a coffee table and another mini fridge. "Help yourself to a drink or something and sit down. The guys will be here shortly." He smiled and closed the door.

It was quiet for a few seconds. Then I couldn't help it any longer. I let out one of the loudest screams I have ever made.

"KYLIE!! We are IN Fall Out Boy's dressing room!!" I yelled.

"I KNOW!!" she yelled back as she flopped down onto the couch.

I lay down beside her and sighed. "I wond-..." I started to speak but was stopped by a knock at the door. My heart stopped and I sat up abruptly.

"Hello?" sang a manly voice as the door opened. "Is there a contest winner anywhere in here?"

I would know that voice anywhere. It was a voice I had heard in countless interviews and concerts during the past few years. The voice of Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz. In he stepped and out of the corner of my eye I saw Kylie's jaw drop as she sat up beside me.

"Getting comfortable are we?" Pete asked with a chuckle as Joe, Andy, and finally Patrick filed in.

"Of course!" answered Kylie with a flirty smile. "I mean this is practically our dressing room now too. At least for the next couple months, everything that's yours is our's, right?"

"Aren't we a little diva already?" Pete said with a flirty smile back.

I tuned out the rest of this conversation. Not purposefully. It was just impossible not to. I couldn't take my eyes off of Patrick. He, like the rest of the band was in an almost all black outfit and holding his guitar shyly. He was even more gorgeous than in the pictures. His blue eyes met mine and I quickly looked away. I pretended to be interested in Kylie and Pete's little flirting game for a minute but then glanced back over at him. He was _still_ looking at me. I saw him turn his head as soon as he realized I was looking at him again. I turned back around as Pete asked a question. I saw him take another glance out of the corner of his eye.

"So which one of you is the contest winner?" asked Pete politely.

"I-I-I am" I managed to stutter out.

Pete and the rest of the guys laughed. Kylie rolled her eyes.

"This is Spencer Whittaker and I'm her best friend Kylie Practor." Kylie had decided to speak for me seeing I was in no state to speak for myself.

"Nice to meet you both." said Pete shaking both of our hands. Joe, Andy and Patrick followed along. When I came to Patrick's hand, I was suddenly conscious of how bad my hand was sweating and I quickly wiped it on my jeans.

"Hey, I'm Patrick." he said in a quiet voice.

A quick "Hi" was all I could muster out. I extended my hand slowly to meet his, avoiding his beautiful eyes with my own, and shook. I noticed my hand was wet with _his_ sweat when I pulled it back. He smiled shyly and I couldn't help but smile back.

"So when does the concert start?" asked Kylie.

"Um...not for another 20 or 30 minutes." replied Pete "You guys can hang with us backstage tonight instead of using your tickets if you want."

"Cool!" Kylie grinned and I saw Pete smile back.

"We have to go talk to our manager for a minute but just make yourselves at home." Joe piped in with a smile.

As soon as they left I flopped back onto the couch. I looked up to find Kylie laughing at me.

"What?" I asked shocked.

"Nothing...I've just never seen you so quiet. But it looked like you and Patrick had a moment there."

"Yeah, right..." I said with a roll of my eyes. "Like he would ever be interested in me. Besides you were the one getting the attention. You could tell Pete wants to screw you just by the way he was looking at you."

She laughed as she headed towards the fridge, grabbed two bottles of water, and tossed one to me. "And I'd probably let him." She grinned an almost evil grin.

My jaw dropped. I don't know why I was shocked. It's not like she wouldn't normally, but it was different because Pete is...well Pete. Just then the door opened and they sauntered back into the room. We sat back and waited for what seemed like and eternity, as I thought about everything. Not believing that this was really happening to me.


	4. Chapter 4

After what I guess had been 20 minutes or so, Pete informed us that The Academy Is... was about to start their set and they were the ones who started the concert. Andy and Joe went to talk to some of the other bands and Pete, Patrick, Kylie and I headed to the side stage. After 5 or 6 songs, Kylie announced she had to go to the bathroom and Pete gladly offered to show her where it was. She called to me that she'd be back soon and I rolled my eyes. Patrick saw me and laughed. He and I both knew that it wasn't true. The Academy Is...ended their set and the stage hands started to set up for Cute Is What We Aim For. Pete and Kylie still weren't back. The first couple minutes were filled with awkward silence. I shifted my weight and moved to lean against the wall but some how I missed. I felt my feet slide out from under me. My ankle made a loud _pop_. I waited for the rest of me to hit the floor knowing there was nothing I could do about it. Suddenly, a pair of strong hands grabbed me and caught me. I looked up. Of course it was Patrick.

"Are you ok?" he questioned picking me up and carrying me to a nearby chair. At first I didn't speak. Then I realized he was talking to me.

"I'm fine" I lied quietly as he sat me down. Truly my ankle hurt like hell but I wasn't going to have him think I was some kind of baby on my first day here. It was quiet again for about 6 or 7 minutes.

"You sure you're ok?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm just the clumsiest person on earth, that's all." He laughed. I turned to the side and saw Pete and Kylie heading back towards us. They were playing it cool but I could tell by Kylie's smudged lip gloss that _something_ had gone on.

"Spencer!" Kylie groaned. "What did you do now?"

"She just fell." Patrick answered for me.

"I'm fine." I said. "It's nothing."

"I don't know about that. Her ankle popped really loud." I shot Patrick a dirty look.

"Pull up your pant leg and take off your shoe." said Pete. I did as he said but rolled my eyes. "Damn, your ankle's already swollen." I looked down. He was right.

"It looks like a sprain, Spencer. Maybe you should go to the bus." Patrick suggested.

"And miss the concert?" I raised my eyebrows. "No way!"

"Come on." urged Pete. "You and Kylie go back. Believe me. You'll see this show so much that you're sick of our music and never wanna hear us again.

"I highly doubt that." I protested. "I'm staying!"

"No your not!" said Kylie. "Come on. Get up. I'll help you back to the bus."

"Awww. Too bad I can't walk even with your help." I was determined to stay. "I guess we can't leave." I grinned. Just then Andy and Joe came walking up.

"What happened to her?" Andy asked, concerned. Joe and him both waited patiently for an answer, while the rest of us were argueing about what I was going to do. "Hello? Anyone wanna tell us what's going on?" Joe nodded in aggreement.

"I just fell and hurt my ankle." I said, my voice filled with frustration. "And now Pete and Patrick are trying to kick me out of the concert."

"Oh, we are not." Patrick answered back. "We just want to make sure you can get back alright."

" Yeah, I'll carry you down there in a second." suggested Pete. "You don't want to get caught in the mob of fans on the way out."

"Really, you don't. That's for sure." Put in Andy. _Great, he was taking their side._

"Fine." I growled, between clenched teeth. A stage hand came running up to Pete and whispered something in his ear.

"Oh," he said to me. "Scratch that idea. I have to do some final fittings for my outfit. Patrick, can you do it?"

I almost gasped in horror. "No, you don't have to do that! I'll be fine. I promise."

It was too late. Patrick had already agreed and was again at my side. I felt like a helpless child as Patrick carried me baby-style to the tour bus. It wasn't a far walk but I still felt bad that he had to carry me the whole way. He climbed the steps and crossed the room to where our suitcases had already been laid. He sat me down on one of them and walked over to the couch and worked on pulling a bed out of it. It already had sheets and a comforter.

"So you guys are gonna sleep in here. Um...I guess you can put your stuff in this cabinet." He reached over and pulled open the doors to the cabinet. He pulled out two pillows that were in there and laid them on the bed. "Um...the bathroom is through that room with the bunks there."

"Thanks for helping me get her down here." Kylie said with a smile. I started to get up off the suitcase.

"Here, let me help you." said Patrick sticking out his hand. I took it and he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me up. He helped me stagger over to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Thanks." I said avoiding his eyes again. He was so sweet.

"Well, I better get back up there. Um... we have a satellite dish so you guys can watch T.V. if you want."

"Ok," said Kylie. "See ya after the show."

"Bye" He turned and walked off the bus and shut the door. As soon as he was gone, Kylie's eyes flashed to mine.

"So how'd you like being in Patrick's big strong arms?" she cooed. I stood up slowly and attempted to hit her but she dodged me and laughed.

"I could ask you the same about Pete." I remarked with a smile.

"We didn't do much, just made out a little. The rest of the time we were around the corner talking about you two."

"Oh my gosh!" I practically yelled. "What did you guys say?"

"Nothing...nothing." she grinned. "I just told him that you have only the biggest crush in the world on Patrick." I groaned.

"Why? Now he'll tell Patrick and Patrick will think I'm a freak!"

"Relax, girl." said Kylie. "He said Patrick said that you were cute!"

"Yeah...right." I said in a disbelieving manner.

"He did!" Kylie protested. "I promise, but whatever." We both got started unpacking our stuff and by the time we were done I was hobbling around pretty good on my ankle. I grabbed my shower stuff, a pair of sweat pants, and a t-shirt and headed to take a shower. I stood under the hot water for about 15 minutes letting it relax my muscles that had been cramped since the flight. I washed my hair and body and got out. I dried off quickly, slipped into my sweats and t-shirt and quickly wrapped my hair up in my towel. I grabbed my dirty clothes and stepped out of the bathroom and headed back to Kylie.

"Are you gonna take a shower tonight?" I asked her.

"I probably will in a minute." She was still organizing her stuff. I got out my brush and started to brush through my wet hair. I plugged in my blow-dryer and dried my hair straight to get rid of it's natural curliness. It took about 5 minutes and then I put the dryer and brush away. I had just sat down on the bed when I heard the deafening screaming of fans from out side the bus. Moments later the door swung open and Pete, Patrick, Joe and Andy all climbed the stairs of the bus. A security guard shut the door behind them and Pete gave Kylie a quick wave and a smile. The bus then started to move. All four of them headed back to the bunk room.

After a while, Pete came out, rubbing his stomach.

"Is anyone else hungry?" Pete shouted loud enough that the rest of the guys could hear. Joe and Andy replied "Yes!" enthusiastically. I guess a show could really work up an appetite. "Are you two hungry?" He looked at us. We both nodded our heads with a laugh. He ran up to the front of the bus and opened the door to the driver's compartment. He spoke to the driver for a second and then shut the door and came back in. "The driver says he'll stop somewhere."

"Are you sure you're ok to go in?" Kylie asked, looking at me. "Want to stay here and rest and they can bring us something back?" I looked down at my swollen ankle.

"You go!" I urged. I didn't want to spoil all her first day fun. She already had to leave the concert early because of me. "But bring me something."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's fine." I answered with no problem. Truly I wasn't dressed to go anywhere right now. About 15 minutes later the bus stopped and Pete, Joe, Andy, and Kylie started to get out.

"Hey Patrick, you coming?" Andy called to Patrick in the back of the bus.

"Nah, I'm not really hungry." He explained as he stepped in to the room where we all were.

"Suit yourself." Shrugged Pete. "You can stay here and keep Spencer company." he said with a laugh. The four of them then turned and walked out the door. I turned back and looked at Patrick. His cheeks flushed pink and his eyes averted my gaze.

"Um..." He stammered. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know." I answered back not looking him in the eye.

"Wanna watch a movie?" He suggested.

"Sure" I replied, trying not to sound overly enthusiastic. He nodded and pointed to a stack of DVD's in the corner.

"You can pick." He said. I started to get up. "Need help?" He asked, holding a hand out.

"No, I can do it." I replied as I hobbled over to the pile beside the couch. Patrick folded in the couch bed so we could sit, as I looked for a movie.

"Find anything good?" he asked with a smile.

"Wow." I said stumbling upon _The Nightmare Before Christmas. "_I haven't seen this one in years." I giggled. "Can we watch it?"

"Sure" he said with a laugh. "That's actually one of mine and Pete's favorites." He reached for the movie and I limped over to the couch and sat down as he put it in. He sat down beside me and we started to watch the movie, but it wasn't long I guess before the pain medicine I had taken for my ankle sunk in and I fell asleep.

I awoke as the door to the bus slammed and I saw Joe and Andy saunter past me, whispering something to each other with a smile. Pete and Kylie came in a couple minutes later and Patrick entered the room.

"What happened to her?" Kylie asked with a giggle. I looked up out of the corner of my squinted eye as I pretended to be asleep. Pete had his arm around Kylie.

"We were watching a movie and she fell asleep so I pulled out the bed and put her there." I recognized Patrick's voice instantly.

"Awww, how sweet!" whispered Pete. Patrick blushed slightly and went back to the other room while Pete and Kylie laughed quietly so as not to wake me up.

"Goodnight." said Pete. I saw him kiss her quickly. She whispered her "goodnight" back and he headed to his bunk. She changed clothes quickly and crawled into bed beside me.

"Told you he liked you..." she said with a smirk. My sleeping charade hadn't fooled her for one second.

"Does not. He was just being nice." I mumbled sleepily. "Now go to sleep."

"Whatever." She laughed quietly. "Goodnight."

"'night" I answered back and then I fell back asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning I awoke bright and early from having gone to bed so early the night before. I picked out a pair of jeans and a pink tank top with a navy blue hooded jacket. As I was changing I noticed for the first time that Kylie wasn't there and the bus was stopped. I looked in the bathroom but she wasn't there. I folded up the couch bed, wincing at the pressure it put on my ankle. But it _did_ feel better than yesterday. I ran my brush through my hair and parted it to the side. I turned as I heard the door open and Kylie stepped in carrying. Two Styrofoam cups full of coffee.

"Morning, Sunshine!" she smiled. "Your ankle feel better?" She offered me a coffee.

"Much better." I smiled back. I took the coffee gladly and thanked her for it.

"The boys not up yet?" she asked. I shook my head no. It would probably be a while before they got up.

We waited and watched TV. for a while. Patrick was the first to wake up. He didn't say much just "Good morning". I heard the shower turn on and I guessed he was taking one. About an hour later I started to get hungry. My stomach growled loudly.

"Ahhh! I need some food." I whined holding my stomach. I realized Kylie hadn't even brought me back anything last night.

"I know! Me too." Kylie nodded her head in agreement. "I'm gonna go ask Pete when we are gonna stop." She jumped up and sprinted into the other room.

"Petey!" she sang. "Time to wake up." I reluctantly got up and followed her. Patrick passed through leaving the bathroom and headed towards the living room section. I saw her sit down on the top of Pete's bed beside him. She shook him lightly. He groaned sleepily. "Petey, we're hungry!" She looked at me and laughed.

"I'll be up in a minute." said Pete reassuringly. I hobbled back into the living room. Patrick was now sitting in front of the TV. I stood in the corner looking at him for a minute. He must have realized I was watching him because he turned his head and looked at me.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to ask if you were done." he said motioning towards the T.V.

"It's fine. I wasn't really watching it anyway. Sorry I fell asleep on you last night." He laughed shyly.

"No problem. It was fine." he insisted.

"Mind if I watch too?" I asked nodding towards the television.

"Sure." he smiled, moving his feet. "It's fine with me."

I crossed the room limping and I saw him laugh. I giggled back. Only _I_ could have gotten hurt like that. I guess it had looked pretty damn funny. I sat down beside him and saw Pete come out of the bunkroom, Kylie trailing close behind. He was already fully dressed. They both came over to the couch. Kylie sat on the armrest beside me and Pete stood behind her his hand on her shoulder.

"So, another concert tonight?" I asked anxiously wanting to redeem myself from last night's disaster.

"No, actually we don't have another one scheduled until tomorrow." started Pete. "Today we have another surprise for you as the lyric contest winner." My eyes opened wide. _Something else? _I though to myself._ How could there be anything else? "I'll_ go get us some food and at about 2 we will leave." he continued.

"That's it?" I asked in shock. "That's all your gonna tell me?"

Patrick laughed again and Pete nodded with a smile and left the bus. He came back with tons of food but now I was too nervous to eat much. I finally saw Joe and Andy for the first time this morning as they had rolled out of bed just in time to polish off more than half of the food Pete had brought back. As Pete, Patrick, and Kylie wandered off to get ready I sat down with beside Joe and tried to coax what my surprise was out of him.

"I can't tewl yuu." He tried to say, through a mouthful of chewed up food. "Its a secwet." I glared at him as he finished chewing. He swallowed and simply smiled back. I had just about as much luck with Andy.

"Tell me, please!" I begged, as he threw his trash away. He turned and faced me. A small chuckle escaped from his mouth.

"Nah, I don't think I want to spoil the surprise now do I?" He pretended to lock his lips together, threw the imaginary key over his shoulder, and headed back towards the bunk room. I finally gave up and waited till 2 as patiently as I could without going crazy.

"Five minutes!" Pete called. Kylie grabbed me by one hand and Pete by the other and led me off the bus. Patrick, Andy, and Joe followed. They led me into a gray building and I new instantly where we were. We were in a recording studio. My jaw dropped as we went through two different doors into a room where a man was sitting in a chair by a soundboard waiting. Behind him was a window leading into a recording room already set up with two microphones and an acoustic guitar.

"Welcome, I'm Mike." The man in the chair said.

"Spencer, this is your surprise." Pete said with a smile. "You should have known we would get you in here sooner or later to record one of your songs. Those were some great lyrics." I could hardly speak.

"I - I - thank you!" I stammered in shock.

"We had Patrick write some music and we're gonna have him play it while you sing." Pete explained. "You can sing right?"

"Decently" I nodded. "I'm not great but..." Suddenly an idea flashed into my head. "Patrick?" I asked shyly. "Would you sing parts of it with me? I kind of wrote one of those songs as a duet."

"Um...sure." he smiled. "I'd be honored."

"Oh, believe me. The pleasure is all _hers_." Kylie said while giggling. I glared at her. It didn't take long to record the three slow ballad type songs Kylie had sent in. We were done by 4:30 and Mike presented me with my own copy of the CD.

"See Spencer, aren't you glad we didn't tell you before?" Andy asked with a smile.

"Yeah, it totally would've ruined the suprise and it was awesome seeing your face when you found out." Andy added, while doing an impression of what was supposed to be me. I just rolled my eyes and turned back to Mike.

"Thank you." I said as he put his arms out for a hug. _People sure are friendly in this business._ I thought to myself but I gave him a hug anyway.

"No problem." He said with a smile. "So what are your all's plans for tonight? Big concert?"

Pete shook his head. "Not tonight." He kept talking to Mike for a while about the tour schedule and other things. He then said we would be going out to eat tonight with the other bands they were on tour with. My heart jumped a little. I realized I hadn't got the chance to meet anyone else last night after I had fallen. "You should come too." He suggested to Mike.

"Nah." said Mike. "Can't. I have to meet a group here to record something tonight."

We said goodbye to Mike and headed back to the bus all except for Patrick, who stayed behind to finish talking to him. I had just climbed back up the stairs behind Pete and Kylie when I remembered my CD.

"Shit!" Pete and Kylie spun around. "I left the CD on the end table outside of the recording room. I have to go back and get it. Don't leave without me." I turned and walked quickly back into the recording studio. I walked past the open door where I heard Patrick and Mike talking about Fall Out Boy's last record. I looked around for the end table and finally spotted it. The CD was gone! I heard a voice behind me and I turned quickly.

"Looking for this?" Mike smiled and held out my CD.

"Yeah, thanks." I said taking it from him. "I accidentally left it."

Mike nodded. "You have a great voice." I murmured a shy thanks and started to leave, but he began talking again. "So Pete said you where from Aurora, New York?"

"Yes, I am." I said trying to be friendly.

"Me too!" He replied enthusiastically. "My sister still lives there and goes to high school. Do you know McKenzie Wilson?"

I nodded again. "Yeah she was in my AP biology class last year. She's really nice."

"So... after the tour are you going back to Aurora?"

"That's what I was planning on." I said in a confused way. I had no idea what he was getting at.

"Well, maybe we can go out sometime when I'm home." he said with a hopeful smile.

"Um...well...sure." I forced a smile. He had taken me by surprise and I didn't have the heart to say no. I waved quickly and started towards the door.

"Cool. See ya, Spencer. You too Patrick." I then realized Patrick was following not far behind me on his way back to the bus. I slowed my walked till he was beside me and sighed, trying to make conversation.

"I can't believe I left that CD. It's a good thing he found it."

"Yeah, great." Patrick said with a scowl. His walking sped up as we entered the bus and he disappeared quickly into the bunk room, pushing a suprised and confused looking Andy out of the way, as he came into the front room. Pete saw this and sighed. He kissed Kylie on the cheek and groaned, "Be right back." He then got up and followed Patrick slowly. I crossed the room and flopped onto the couch beside her.

"What's wrong with him?" she whispered quietly.

"I-I don't know." I stammered and let my head fall back onto the armrest. "I don't know what I did."

"What ever it is, don't beat yourself up about it too hard." Andy said sitting down and putting his arm around my shoulder. "It'll blow over. Patrick's pretty forgiving. He just likes you a lot is all."

"How can everyone but me see that?" I asked, burying my face in my hands. Both of them were quiet.

I looked at Kylie and her eyes filled with sympathy. A few minutes later Pete came back.

"Is he ok?" I asked Pete quietly.

"He will be. He's just kinda pissed right now." he replied.

"At me?!" I asked not able to hide the surprise in my voice. What had I done?

"Well..."started Pete. He then paused and his eyes avoided mine.

"For what?" I demanded.

"Ok, ok...maybe "pissed" isn't the right word for it." He corrected. "He's just really hurt."

"Hurt?" I asked. I was so confused.

"Spencer," started Pete. He glanced at Kylie for a moment and then looked back at me. "He _really_ likes you. Like _a lot._"

My mouth popped open as I was about to speak. But no words came out.

"He said he _thought_ you seemed like you liked him too. And when you agreed to go out with Mike..."

"Wait!" interrupted Kylie. "What?!"

"Huh?" I asked, confused more than ever. "I didn't even actually set a date. I was just trying to be nice."

"Well...Patrick didn't see it like that." Pete looked as if I had hurt him and not just Patrick. But then again I would probably feel the same way for Kylie. I put my hand up to my face and realized I was crying. I felt a tear roll into my hand. "Maybe this is my fault..." started Pete."If I hadn't had told him that you liked him back..."

"No!" I said, my voice cracking through my tears. This was so embarrassing. I was way too sensitive and cried at the drop of a hat. "Kylie told me he liked me. But I didn't believe her. I mean he's Patrick Stump, for God's sake. Why the hell would he like me?"

"Spencer," said Pete calmly, hugging me tightly and smoothing down my hair while I continued to cry. "I know he may seem like he lives in a whole other world because he's famous, but he's just a normal person. Celebrities have feelings and get crushes just like anyone. He's just too shy to tell you those feelings. Especially now that he thinks you like Mike." I pulled away from Pete.

"But I _don't_ like Mike. And I know he's a normal person with normal feelings but that concept is just hard to grasp sometimes. I hate that he thinks I don't like him. Because I do...so much."

Kylie put her hand on my shoulder. I looked at her as she smiled sympathetically.

"Then tell _him_ that, not _us."_

"I will, after dinner." I smiled back and dried my tears.

I got up and went to get ready. I had streaks of mascara running down my face. I washed it off with make-up remover and reapplied it. I then ran a brush through my hair quickly as the bus pulled to a stop again. Pete ordered us all off the bus, including a depressed looking Patrick and into a small Italian restaurant where a long table had been set up for what had to be at least 20 people. The guys from the other bands followed in behind us.

I sat down by Kylie who had Pete on her other side and watched sadly as Patrick sat as far away from me as he could. I ended up with Shaant Hacikyan from Cute Is What We Aim For on my other side and Ryan Ross from Panic across the table. Pete introduced Kylie and I to everyone and Shaant attempted to make small talk with me as I barely picked at my food. I'm sure it was delicious but I was so nervous about talking to Patrick that it was all I could do to keep myself from constantly staring at him. Shaant noticed.

"You like him, don't you?" he asked knowingly.

I looked up, surprised. I thought about denying it but relented and nodded my head. "I'm supposed to tell him after dinner. He's kind of pissed at me right now." I was surprised at how easy Shaant was to talk to.

"Don't worry about it. He's an understanding guy. He's probably just confused."

"I hope so." I said nervously.

"Believe me. He likes you a lot." he said with a laugh.

"How do you know?" I asked again frustrated. Why was I the only one who couldn't tell?

"I saw the way he was looking at you at the concert last night. You would have to be blind not to see that."

"Oh..." I picked at my food for the rest of dinner and waited for everyone else to finish. We headed back to the buses and I waited outside the door for Patrick. He walked out of the door with one of the guys from The Academy Is... I poked him in the shoulder and he turned with a blank expression on his face.

"P-Patrick, can I talk to you?" I stuttered as I spoke.

"Sure..." he answered, the expression on his face not changing." I guess"

We walked over to a corner where no one could hear.

"Um...well..." I started to speak but I couldn't. "Dammit, Patrick...now I forgot everything I had planned to say!"

"Me?" he asked in shock. "What the hell did I do? I mean besides like you and think that you like me back, just so I can get basically a slap in the face when you agree to go out with...Mike... I mean, come on. You can _not_ blame this on _me_."

"I'm sorry." I said looking at the ground. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant...well... Patrick first of all...I _don't _like Mike...not at all. I was just trying not to be rude and hurt his feelings. Second of all, Pete and Kylie told me you liked me, but I just didn't believe them. I mean you can't blame me. This whole thing is so new to me. It's just hard to remember that you have feelings too and your not just the picture perfect celebrity I always had you pictured as in my head." Realization came into his eyes and I felt like I was going to cry again. "Patrick...I-I _really_ like_ you_. Not Mike. _You..." _

I paused but he didn't speak. "Oh God" I felt my cheeks burn red with embarrassment. "Wow, why don't I just spill my guts to you completely. Stupid, stupid, stupid me! I feel like such an idiot! Or at least I'm rambling on and on like one. I'd better just..."

I couldn't say another word because he grabbed me by the shoulders and pressed his lips hard against mine and held them there. The surprise sent almost a shock through my body. I swear I felt my heart skip a beat. He pulled away and looked into my eyes and I just stared into his pretty blue ones. He wiped away a few tears that had fallen down my face in the heat of my embarrassment with his jacket sleeve. I wrapped my arms around his broad chest and I felt his arms circle around me. He opened his mouth next to my ear and whispered. "I'm so sorry. I overreacted."

"It's ok." I whispered back. "I'm sorry too." We held onto each other for a few more moments and then I pulled away. "We had better get back to the bus or they will leave us."

He laughed his cute little laugh and we walked towards the bus and up the steps together. Kylie was sitting on the couch with Pete's head in her lap. Patrick tried to squeeze my hand secretly before heading to the bunk room but Pete and Kylie saw anyway.

"Awwwww! How Cute!" said Pete in his best girl voice, as Patrick walked past. Kylie giggled and slapped him playfully.

"Leave them alone, asshole." She scolded, but even she was dying to say something too. I could tell.

I felt elated almost that entire night. After a while, Kylie said she felt tired and her and Pete went to lay down in his bunk. I sat down on the couch with the book I had been reading lately and drifted off into my own little world. Then, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up at Patrick who was smiling sweetly down at me.

"Whatcha reading?" he asked obviously trying to think of something to say.

I turned the book over so that he could see the cover. It showed a old-fashioned style key on a silver chain and the title was in small white letters. He nodded and sat down beside me. He pulled an ipod out of his jean pockets and propped himself against the armrest of the couch. I watched him lay there out of the corner of my eye for a few moments and then folded the corner of the page I was on and shut my book. I reached towards him to pull a headphone out of his ear. He seemed to understand and before I even touched the cord, he had it in his hand offering it to me. I took it and scooted closer to him. I didn't recognize the band or song that was playing, but I had to admit that they were really good. I leaned my head on the back of the couch, my eyelids getting heavier by the minute. I opened them as I felt Patrick's arms encircle me and pull me closer to him. I smiled and laid my head on his chest, where I could here his heart clearly. I thought to myself that this was almost too surreal, as I drifted off to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

"Spencer, would you hurry up?" shouted Kylie over the roar of my hairdryer. I heard the banging of her fists against the bus bathroom door as I switched the hairdryer off to see what she wanted to tell me. "We're gonna be late, the show starts really soon!"

"Alright, alright. One more second." I ran my brush through my hair, fluffing it a little bit afterwards, and reached for my hairdryer. I unplugged it and wrapped the chord tightly around the handle. I opened the door to an impatient looking Kylie. She opened her mouth again, about to speak. I interrupted her before she got a chance. "I know, I know. Hurry." I threw my hairdryer in my duffle bag and grabbed my backstage pass. The boys were already gone inside to get ready for the show and do their sound check and we were supposed to use our tickets at the door tonight and meet them backstage afterwards. Kylie then grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out the door. The driver waved as we headed past him and around the side of the concert hall, to the front door. The line was backed up for a long wait.

"Great." I groaned. "Every person within 200 miles of Indianapolis must be here. Now we'll be late getting inside." I looked over at Kylie who had a hint of a smile on her face.

"No, we won't." She said, her smile growing bigger. "We're Fall Out Boy's special guests. They won't make us wait." She grabbed my arms again, hard enough to leave a bruise, and started pulling me towards the front of the line. It was then that it clicked in my head what she was doing.

"Kylie, No! We can't just cut ahead of all these people. They've probably been out here for hours." I heard grumble after grumble as we passed what must have been hundreds of people up to the front of the line. Kylie motioned to our passes and a security guard stepped closer to get a better look. After a few seconds of close examination, he opened the door and waived us through.

"Wow," she said with a slight smirk. "Talk about VIP treatment." I couldn't help but smile back.

The concert was one of the best I've been to. The other bands were great but none of them could compare to Fall Out Boy. They played all my favorite songs as I jumped around and sang along. I had been to concerts of theirs before but it felt awesome to watch Patrick sing and know for sure that the eye contact we made wasn't just my imagination this time. It was reality.

I woke up early one morning and glanced at the date on my phone. We had been on tour with Fall Out Boy for a little over a month and tomorrow was my 18th birthday! I got out of bed with a smile on my face and went to get ready to leave. The next concert was in Seattle so we were headed toward the nearest airport to catch a flight. I packed all my bags, zipping the final one as we pulled into the passenger's drop-off area. After the long check in process, we made it to a private jet that we quickly boarded and began the flight to Seattle. The flight was a pretty long one. A little longer than the flight from New York to Chicago had been. But I soon fell asleep with my head on Patrick's shoulder, which had become a normal occurrence in the past few weeks. I was really falling for him, and according to Pete, who had become one of my best friends and source of information on all things Patrick-related, Patrick felt the same way.

Andy had backed up Pete's statements with him constantly teasing Patrick and I whenever we were even in the same room. He and Kylie had been hanging out a lot lately, so I had gotten to know him pretty well too. Patrick and I had been the butt of most of their jokes, but I knew that they were just kidding around. Joe was shyer around Kylie and I still. But he smiled every time a joke was made at Patrick's or my expense. Maybe he still wasn't completely used to the idea of having two girls constantly around.

We landed in Seattle around two only to find that they weren't able to get a tour bus there for us. Pete called the company, who apologized for the problems but couldn't send us a bus until tomorrow.

"I am so sorry." The man on the phone had said. "Several of my workers are either on vacation or have quit recently. I have no way of getting a bus up there tonight."

"Oh," Answered Pete with a frown on his face.

There we were, with all of our luggage, standing at the airport waiting to be picked up with no bus in sight, or as we had just learned, even on its way. "Well..." He started but was interrupted by man again.

"But my secretary has just set up a limo service to pick you up and take you to the Hilton Seattle, compliments of our company. And you have my deepest apologies. If there is anything that you need while in Seattle, don't hesitate to give me a call, and I will take care of it for you."

"Um… Wow." Pete said, with a shocked look on his face. "Thank you."

"No problem, thank you for understanding." Answered the man. "Have a nice night."

Pete hung up the phone and let us know that the limo was on its way. In around 15 or 20 minutes later, a limo pulled in with the front seat occupied by a little girl around 11 or 12. The driver stepped out and introduced himself.

"Hi, I'm Matt. Sorry I'm late. It was kind of a last minute call." He offered his hand out.

"It's alright." Grinned Pete, shaking his hand warmly. "Who is that you have in there with you?"

"Oh, I hope you don't mind. My daughter is a fan of your band and she heard that I was going to be your driver. I couldn't tell her no, when she asked if she could ride along. I told her to stay in the car and not to bother you though." He looked warily at Pete, almost as though he expected him to be angry.

"No, we don't mind at all!" Pete assured him.

"We love meeting our fans." Joe added with a smile.

Pete looked over towards the passenger window, where the little girl was staring at us. He waved at her and motioned for her to come over. Her little jaw completely dropped. She looked at her dad to see if she would get in trouble for getting out. He smiled and gave her a little nod to let her know that it was ok, and she slowly opened the door. We noticed for the first time that she was holding a fluffy white cat, a pad of paper and a pen. She walked shyly towards Pete and asked for his autograph. He smiled and took the pad and pen from her and started to sign it while Matt loaded our bags into the trunk. Pete passed the notepad down the row to Joe and Andy and they signed it too. Andy handed it back to her and she started over towards us.

"Patrick, can I have your autograph?" she asked, her voice filled with awe.

"Sure." Patrick took the pen and paper and started searching for a clean sheet. I watched him for a moment and then I looked over to see that she was looking at me. I smiled.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Kayla." She pronounced loudly. "And this is Kendra." She said, holding up the cat so we could get a better look. "She's my favorite cat." She smiled proudly.

"Nice to meet you Kayla, I'm Spencer." I answered with another smile. "So you have more than one cat?"

"Yep." she replied, a big grin spreading across her face. "I have eight. I love cats!"

"Eight? Wow! Well Kendra is a very pretty cat."

"Thank you, Spencer." I noticed she had lost several teeth when she smiled. Patrick closed the book and handed it back to her. She looked at me again with an inquisitive look on her face. "Are you Patrick's girlfriend?"

Her question shocked me. I wanted to say yes, but Patrick had never actually called me his_ girlfriend._ I didn't know what we were exactly so I didn't know what to say. Fortunately Patrick saved the day. He grabbed my hand and laced his fingers through mine and said with a smile, "Yes, she is." I couldn't help but grin as he kissed me on the forehead. Kayla smiled and said "Thank you."

"No problem." He answered back and he led me towards the car, his fingers still laced in mine.

It was a short drive to the hotel. It only took us about 20 minutes to get there. We all said goodbye to Kayla, who was still grinning and checked in at the front desk. The person at the desk said we only had one room.

_Are you kidding me?_ I thought. But I didn't say anything. I just followed everyone towards the elevators and up to the 7th floor. We found our room, room 717, and slid the card in the door. Pete shoved the door open and pushed his bags and part of Kylie's in the room. I stepped in and looked around. _Now_ I could see why we only needed one room. The suite they had given us was huge! The door had opened to a large kitchen/living room, with everything we could possibly need to stay for a year, even though we were only staying two nights. I was still looking around in the living room while Kylie was bouncing around through all 3 bedrooms trying to decide which she wanted.

"Me and Spencer have this room!" She yelled, staking her claim and daring anyone to challenge her. I took a look in the bedroom and suddenly didn't think anyone would. The bedroom she picked out had one king-sized bed, two end tables, a sofa, a chair, a TV, and an adjoining bathroom. It was exactly like the other bedrooms except the furniture and comforter was all pink and girly, which was exactly what Kylie liked. The other rooms were blue and green themed. Personally, I liked the green room better, but I didn't want to spoil her fun. Andy and Joe sprung for the blue room, leaving the green one for Pete and Patrick. We unpacked our things and laid around the room for a while before we went out to dinner. I didn't know the name of the restaurant where they took us but it was really good. Patrick said they had toured here several times so Pete knew the best places to eat around there.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel where the boys took advantage of the video game system in the living room. I sat and watched them for a while until Kylie said she was going to go bed early. About 5 minutes later Pete got up and left too.

My mouth was dry so I walked over to the fridge and all I found was pop. I wanted water so I took the room key and went in search of a vending machine. It took a while but I finally found one with water in it and bought a bottle of Dasani. When I got back to the room, Patrick was not in the living room anymore. I sat down and drank the rest of my water at the kitchen table. Suddenly feeling tired, I got up, said goodnight to Joe and Andy who were still playing video games and started walking to my room.

Kylie had gone on to bed, so the door was shut. I didn't want to wake her so I planned to shower quietly and then go to bed. I cracked the door open and poked my head in to see if she was asleep yet. I froze in my place. A trail of clothes led to the bed starting first with t-shirts and jeans and ending with Kylie's bra and panties right beside the pile of blankets that had come from the bed. My eyes moved up to where they were. A naked Pete laid across the bed. Kylie's legs were straddling him, her torso leaning far forward towards him, while he kissed her bare breasts. His hands clenched her thighs and they both moaned in ecstasy as she moved slowly up and down on top of him. Both their faces held immense amounts of pleasure, and I quickly turned my head. I had seen way too much.

I quietly backed out the door and shut it, hoping they hadn't seen me. Now what was I going to do? I slunk back into the living room and thought about warning Joe and Andy not to go in there, but I chose not to. They were so absorbed in their game that they didn't even see me walk back through the living room. I noticed my makeup bag lying on the floors of the living room by the door. I was suddenly glad I dropped it. I did _not_ want to go back in there and now I at least would have my toothbrush and hairbrush. I didn't have a place to sleep though. I would have to ask Patrick to let me share his room. I took a deep breath and walked towards his door. It was slightly cracked and I could see that one of the bedside lamps was on. I opened it all the way. Patrick's blue eyes flashed away from his book and up to where I was standing.

"Hey." he said with a smile. "What are you doing?"

"Ha. Funny story actually." I couldn't help but smile back. "See...um...would you care to share your bed with me? Pete and Kylie are well...um..."busy" in my room. Patrick burst out laughing. "Oh. I figured that was what he was doing. Did you walk in on them or something?" I nodded. "You look embarrassed." He said with a chuckle.

"Well wouldn't you be?" I asked shocked. "I mean, they didn't see me, but still!"

"Ahhh. I guess I'm just used to seeing it." He replied, a smile still on his face. "It's not that unusual for Pete."

"Oh." I mumbled, looking at the floor.

"But sure, I can share my bed. I don't mind." He said as he remembered my original question.

"Thanks Patrick." I smiled in relief.

"Um..." he started."Are you gonna sleep in those clothes?" I looked down. I had jeans and a dressy shirt on. I hadn't thought about that.

"Well, I can't get in my room to get my stuff." I pointed out.

"Do you want some of my clothes? It's not a problem." He offered sweetly.

I smiled. "If you don't mind that would be great." He pulled the covers back and stood up. He was wearing a gray t-shirt and a pair of green plaid boxers. He walked over to a duffel bag and beckoned me over. He told me to sleep in anything I wanted and went back to his book. I went through a duffel bag and found a black Clandestine hoodie and a pair of Nightmare Before Christmas boxers and headed to the bathroom to get ready for bed. I showered, brushed my teeth, brushed and blow-dried my hair, and put on the clothes Patrick let me borrow. I walked out and he looked at me and smiled.

"What?" I asked, curious as to what was making him smile like that.

"You." He replied.

"Me?" I asked, unsure what he meant. Did I look stupid or something?

"Yeah, you." He paused.

"What about me?"

"I was just wondering how you can be that beautiful, even when you don't try." He said seriously. That was probably the sweetest thing a boy had ever said to me. I sat down on the bed and crawled under the covers. I let him put his arms around me as I lay facing him. He leaned his face down and kissed me. I kissed him back and we kept on until both of us were satisfied and it was quiet.

"Patrick?" I said quietly. "You know how you said that sex was not an unusual thing for Pete?"

"Yeah." He said, wondering what I was getting at.

"Um." I said, unsure of how he would take this. "Is it unusual for you?"

He laughed. "Very unusual."

"How much is very?" I asked, still curious.

He was quiet. "Truthfully?"

"Yes truthfully."

"Spencer, I'm a virgin." He looked embarrassed.

"Really?" I smiled. He nodded. "I think that's great." The embarrassment left his face.

"So what about you?" He asked.

"Me too." He smiled and kissed my forehead.

"I'm glad." He reached over and turned the light out and wrapped his arms around me tighter.

The last thing I remember before falling asleep is mumbling sleepily, "I think I like this sleeping arrangement much better."

And Patrick kissed me again and replied. "Me too."

**Thanks to my new Beta Reader _Mrs. Chaos _for helping me put necessary parts in, that I sometimes forget when I get so absorbed in the main storyline. If you haven't read some of her stuff, go check it out! She is an amazing writer! Reviews please! Let me know what you think!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N - _I know it's been a while since the last chapter but I've been kinda busy with school starting. So to make up for the wait, this chapter is longer! Yay! But seriously, this is the longest one I've written. Hope you like! :)_**

The hotel alarm clock blared loudly, waking me up. I opened my eyes slowly, peered over to check the time and turned the alarm off. It was noon already and I couldn't believe I had slept that long. I looked down, realizing for the first time that Patrick's arms where still wrapped tightly around me. I turned over in his arms to face him. His eyes were halfway open and he smiled sleepily.

"Happy Birthday, beautiful." He said, kissing me while excusing my morning breath.

"Thanks." I smiled back, pleasantly surprised that he knew. "Kylie told you guys, didn't she?" He nodded. Just then Kylie came bursting in the room.

"Speak of the devil." I mumbled jokingly. Patrick held me tighter and laughed.

"HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY!!" She yelled, jumping onto the bed beside me.

"Thank you." I laughed as she pinched my cheeks jokingly.

"My little girl is all grown up. Now come out here, we've got presents!"

"Yay." I groaned sarcastically as I pulled myself free of Patrick's arms and drug him off the bed with me.

We walked into the living room where Pete, Joe, and Andy were waiting. Each of them had a wrapped gift in their hands and another one was lying on the table. After a chorus of Happy Birthdays from the boys, Kylie pulled me over to the couch and pushed me down.

"You all really didn't have to get me anything you know." I said feeling guilty and a little embarrassed.

"Oh, shut up and open our presents." Andy said thrusting his box into my lap with a smile.

"Fine." I grinned at them all, as I tore off the wrapping paper to uncover a DVD with an interesting looking cover.

"Its one of my favorites, so I thought you might like it too." Andy said, putting his arm around my shoulder.

"Thanks," I answered giving him a hug. "It looks really good." I added as I scanned the back.

I opened the remainder of the presents. Pete gave me a book that he had previously told me was good. Kylie gave me two new shirts and a zip-up hooded jacket. And Joe gave me the new CD of another one of my favorite bands which wasn't set to be released to the public for another month. I thanked and hugged them all and then Patrick and I headed back to the room to get ready to leave for lunch.

I had gotten my duffel bag out of Kylie and Pete's room and was getting dressed in the bathroom. I was finished putting on my mascara and was in the middle of brushing my teeth when someone knocked on the door. I spit out the tooth paste and rinsed my toothbrush off and then opened the door. It was Patrick.

"Come here." He said, while pulling me by the hand into our room. "I have something for you."

"Huh?" I asked curiously. "You didn't have to give me anything."

"Well, I know I didn't have to." He answered with a smile. "But I wanted too." He sat me down on the bed and shut the door that led to the living room. Then he walked over to his bag, pulled something out and put it behind his back. He sauntered back over to me and held out a jewelry box. I gasped as he opened it.

Inside was probably the most beautiful necklace I had ever seen. It was silver and heart-shaped with a sapphire heart in the middle of the silver one. He turned it over to the back and it was inscribed.

_To Spencer_

_Love, Patrick_

"It's beautiful." I exclaimed as I threw my arms around him, before he kissed me. "Thank you so much, I love it!"

"I'm glad." He replied with a smile. He took the necklace out of the box and I lifted up my hair. He carefully fastened it around my neck and kissed my cheek. I looked in the mirror and ended up staring at it. Soon it was time to head out for lunch.

On the way down the street to the restaurant, Kylie pulled me aside.

"Cute necklace, where'd you get it?" She said with a suspicious smile.

"I'm just guessing, but by the way that you're acting, I think you know exactly where I got it and you may have even picked it out." I smirked back.

"Ok, I do know where you got it." She admitted with a grin. "I went with him, but he picked it out by himself, honestly."

"Did you know he had it inscribed?" I asked.

"No way!" She replied shocked. "Let me see!"

I turned it over in my hand to the back, where the inscription was and showed it to her. She read it out loud and a smile burst across her face.

"Awwww, how sweet!" She squealed a little too loudly. Patrick turned to stare, but then smiled. "Oh sorry, I guess I was kinda loud." She apologized.

"It's ok." I answered.

The rest of the day passed quickly while waiting for the concert. It had been over a month of hearing the same sets every concert, but I still wasn't sick of it. I could never get sick of this. It was toward the end of Fall Out Boy's set. They had just finished Chicago Is So Two Years Ago, my favorite song, when Pete stepped up to the microphone.

"That song was for a new friend of ours. It's her birthday today." My jaw must have dropped ten feet.

"We just wanted to say, 'Happy Birthday beautiful!'" Patrick said shyly. Speaking for what may have been the first time the whole concert, before he began to sing Happy Birthday to me in front of everyone. Kylie grabbed my hand and squealed in excitement and a spotlight move to shine on us. It was obvious she had known about this before it happened. I was embarrassed but at the same time, it was so incredibly sweet that I couldn't be mad.

To avoid the crowd at the end of the concert, Kylie and I took a cab back to the hotel. About 15 minutes after we got there, the boys came in. I was in mine and Patrick's room putting my clothes away, after changing into my pajama pants and a tank top.

Patrick opened the door and slipped into the room quietly. I turned and smiled. He walked over and put his arms around me.

"Thank you for singing a song for me." I said as he kissed me. "I loved it."

"Every song I sing now...I'm singing for you. You know that right?" He smiled.

"Really?" I asked slightly confused, as he sat down on the bed, pulling me down beside him. He nodded.

"Really." He assured me. "I-I like you so much, Spencer. I hope you know that."

"Aw." I grinned. "I really like you too, Patrick." _'Really like' is an understatement. _I thought to myself, as I felt his lips pressing into my neck. _I 'really liked' him that first night on the tour bus. I 'really really liked' him when he kissed me out in front of the bus. "I really really really liked' him when he called me his girlfriend. But now…now I don't think I could ever put enough reallys in front of the word like to describe how he makes me feel. Like I have to be near him every moment of the day. Even if he's just in a different room, I miss him enough that I could honestly get up and drag him away from whatever he's doing, just so he can sit on the couch with me and put his arms around me. Gosh, this is scary. Why does this feel so weird but wonderful at the same time? _Every thing flew out of my mind at that instant, as I realized what this was. _Nah, it couldn't be. There's no way. I couldn't be…in…in love. But maybe I was. There's no other explanation. It has to be… _I was in love with Patrick Martin Stump.

Patrick pulled away and noticed my vacant stare.

"Something wrong?" He asked with a slightly worried look.

_Oh god, do I tell him?_ "No, it's just…I…was thinking about something." _No I can't just blurt that out. Not if I'm not positive that he feels the same._

"About what?" He said, his face full of curiosity.

"Um…" I searched for something to say. "About how this is the best birthday, I've ever had…." I looked up at him and saw a smile slowly spread across his face. "And how I wish it didn't have to end." There, that was the truth. Not exactly what I had been thinking about, but it was true. I smiled back.

"Well, don't tell Pete I told you, but your birthday surprise isn't over yet." He said with a grin. "You'll get the rest of it when we get to L.A. tomorrow."

"There's more?" I asked excitedly. He nodded. " I can't wai-" I was cut off my the ringing of my cell. I found the pair of jeans I had worn to the concert and fished into the pocket for my phone. I pulled it out and looked at the Caller ID. _Chelsey Cell Calling_ . Excitedly, I flipped open the phone to talk to my sister.

"Hey!" I almost squealed. I hadn't had a chance to talk to her in a while. Two different voices greeted me back.

"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you," They sang, off-key. "Happy birthday to Spencerrrrrr, Happy birthday to you!" I couldn't help but smile.

"Awww, thanks guys." I said while giggling slightly. "What are you two doing?"

"Nothing," Brian answered back. "We just wanted to give our favorite 18 year old a call on her birthday, but I'll let you talk to Chels now."

"Alright, Brian. Bye!""

"Yeah, how's your birthday been so far, sissy?" Chels asked sweetly as Brian handed her the phone. "We've been trying to call for the past couple hours and you haven't answered."

"You have?" I replied back. "Oh, well the boys had a show tonight and we just got back to the hotel room."

"A hotel room?" She asked. "Where's the bus?"

"Oh, we flew out to Seattle and the company couldn't get our bus here in time, so they got us a suite to stay in while we're here. It's pretty awesome."

" Cool, so how's Kylie? Is she around?"

"She's fine." I replied. "Her and Pete have kinda hit it off."

"Well that won't last." Chels said. I could tell through the phone that she was grinning.

"Yeah, I know, right?" I couldn't help but smile either.

"Is she with you now?"

"Um, no she's in her room, I guess. Well hers and Pete's room."

"So, if you two aren't rooming together…then who _are_ you rooming with?" She was using her mommy voice. _Oops._ I looked over at Patrick.

"Um…well…I ended up rooming with Patrick." A smile spread across his face.

"Let me know how that goes over." He whispered with a smile, as he got up and left the room quietly.

"Oh, really?" Chels said, the maternal edge not leaving her voice. "Spencer…" She started. " Are you…?"

"NO! Of course not!" I said, shocked. "I mean we are dating, but we haven't…"

"Ok, ok." She replied. "Calm down, I was just wondering. Even if you were, you're 18 now. You don't need me to tell you what to do with your life. So is he who you though he would be?"

"Well…yeah, he is. He's pretty much everything I thought he would be. And that scares me a little."

"Aw. Why?"

"Chels…I-I think I might…_love him_." I whispered the last two words.

"Oh my gosh! Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure." I replied.

"That's great! My baby sister is in love! Does he know?"

"No, he doesn't know. I kinda just now figured it out myself. And I don't think I want to be the first to say it."

"Aww, well that's your choice. But I'm sure he feels the same way. How could someone not love you?"

"Thanks, Chelsey."

"Oh, and I have a check for you from me and Brian for your birthday. But I have absolutely no idea how to get it to you. You're in a different city every time I talk to you. What do you want me to do with it?"

"Um…just lay it in my room. I'll take care of it when I get home. I've got enough money for what I want and the boys pretty much take care of anything else Ky and I need. But thanks. And thank Brian for me too."

"You're welcome. What else did you get for your birthday?"

"Well Andy got me a DVD, Joe got me a CD, Pete got me a book, and Kylie got me two cute new shirts and a zip-up hoodie."

"And what did Patrick get you?"

"This _beautiful_ necklace. And he had it inscribed on the back!"

"What does it say?" She asked in a demanding voice.

" It says 'To Spencer, Love Patrick'."

"Awww. How sweet! Well I better get off here. I've gotta get up early tomorrow."

"Alright. Love you, Chels"

"Love you too, Spencer. Bye."

"Bye." I hung up the phone and crawled into bed. We had to leave early tomorrow too, if we were gonna make the drive to L.A. I fell asleep quickly, from all the birthday excitement. But when I woke up the next morning, Patrick's arms were wrapped around me right where they should be.

It took all day to get to L.A. , and the entire time I was begging Patrick to tell me what my surprise was. He only laughed harder, the more frustrated I became. It was obvious that everyone else knew, even Kylie. And I couldn't make any of them crack, not a single one. I ended up with basically the same response out of Pete and Andy and Joe that I had gotten out of Patrick. The only thing that Kylie would tell me is that it was something I had always wanted to do, and not to worry about it. Which of course made me worry…

About 9:00 at night, the bus stopped and Pete started ushering us all off of the bus, just like he had when we had arrived at the recording studio. A small building stood in front of us, the light coming through the windows lighting up the asphalt in the parking lot. There were only one other car there. I looked up at the sign and my jaw dropped. It read: _Hollywood Tattoos and Piercings. _

"Oh my gosh…" I gasped. "You guys are taking me to get a tattoo!"

"Yep, this guy is one of the best." Pete replied with a grin on his face. " He's done two of mine."

"Told you that you'd like it." Kylie said with a smirk.

"Yeah, and you were worried." Andy put in, sliding his arm around my shoulder.

This wasn't what I had expected. Actually I _had_ always wanted to get a tattoo. I had just never thought about what kind. But if this guys was supposedly one of the best, then why was this place so deserted? But Pete had already seen my slightly worried expression.

"Dave usually closes up an hour or so earlier than this but I made a call and told him our situation and he said just to come on by when we got here, no matter how late."

"Wow, thanks guys." I said still shocked.

"Don't thank us," said Joe. "It was all Pete and Kylie's idea."

"Yeah," Interjected Andy, with a grin. "We're just here to watch you two scream." Patrick stuck his arm out and slugged him slightly.

"Us two?" I looked over at Kylie. She was smiling.

"Yeah, I'm getting one too! You know I wouldn't let you do this alone."

We entered the tattoo parlor and were greeted by a pretty tall guy covered with tattoos. I knew it must be Dave.

"Welcome!" Dave said, smiling at Kylie and me and pulling Pete into a brotherly hug. "Petey, how ya been?"

"Pretty good, Dave. How bout hooking our girls here up with their first tattoos?"

"No problem man." We introduced ourselves and he asked if we knew what we wanted. Kylie already did but I still wasn't sure. He pointed out a binder of designs to me and then led Kylie back to a surgical table, while she rattle on about exactly how she wanted it. The boys sat down in the waiting chairs and I carried the binder over to sit with them. Before I could get a chance to sit down, Patrick pulled me down into his lap. I couldn't help but smile.

"So do you know where you want it?" He asked, his lips close to my ear.

"I'm thinking maybe something small on my wrist." He nodded and helped me find a section of tiny tattoos. I looked through pages and pages, until I finally saw what I wanted. A small orange lily. "This one." I said pointing to it, a small tear springing up in my eye. "I want this one."

"That's pretty." Patrick replied. "What kinda flower is it?"

"It's a lily. It reminds me of my mom. They were her favorite flower. Her name was Lily too." The tear rolled down my cheek. Patrick quickly kissed it away. He knew about my mom and dad, and how they had died, but I had never really talked about her much to anyone. It was still really painful. I knew this was it though. I needed this tattoo. Sort of in remembrance of her. By then, Kylie was done. She hopped over to where we were sitting and ecstatically pulled down the side of her low riser jeans to just under the hip-bone, where in neat, cursive letters, the name _Pete_ was spelled out.

_Good lord._ I thought. _Sometimes I wonder about her._ But looking at her I could see that she honestly thought that her and Pete were gonna last. So I didn't say anything. Then it was my turn. I made Patrick come with me and hold my hand. It hurt like hell but less than 30 minutes later, there was a completely detailed orange lily on my left wrist.

"You like?" Dave asked with a smile.

I smiled back. "I love!" I couldn't wait to tell Chels. She would freak. He went over all the steps to caring for a new tattoo with Kylie and me and then we were on our way back to the bus.

After I was seated on the bus couch, I opened my phone and typed out a text. _So I got a tattoo!_ I hit the send button and typed in Chelsey's number. It was only a couple seconds before I got a reply.

_You what?!_ I couldn't help but laugh as I showed Chelsey's reply to Kylie. She giggled too.

"Tell her it goes all the way down your arm and see what she says." Kylie suggested deviously.

"Nah," I laughed. "I think I want to live more than 18 years."

_Don't freak out, it's nothing big. And it was done by a really good artist and everything looked sanitary. It was the last part of my birthday surprise. Ky got one too._

I knew she would be cool about the tattoo, it was the fact that I might have gotten HIV or something from the needles that she would worry needlessly about.

_Ok, as long as you're sure it was clean stuff. What did you get and where? And Kylie? _

_Yeah, the place was fine. Pete has known the guy for years and he's even done some of his. Kylie got Pete's name tattooed on her hip. Haha, how crazy is she? But I got an orange lily on my left wrist…for mom._

_Aw, Spencer…I think mom would love that. Well…not the tattoo part, but that you remembered her. I just thank God that he gave you some brains and you didn't do anything stupid like Kylie did. Lol._

_Thanks, Chels. I just hope she doesn't end up regretting it soon._

_Yeah, me too. But I'm meeting some friends so I g2g. Luv ya. Bye._

_Luv you 2. Bye bye._

I closed my phone just as Patrick plopped down on the couch beside me.

"Are you ok?" He asked, kissing my forehead.

"Yeah, just tired." I smiled and yawned shortly after. "I'm gonna miss sleeping with you." I pushed my lower lip into a pout. He smiled and poked my lip with his finger.

"Well, you still can if you want to." He offered. "My bunk's kinda small but they have curtains we can close if we need to." His voice held a bit of suggestiveness in it.

"Oh really?" I replied with a smile. "Sounds great to me."

"Alright then. That settles it, bunkmate. Come on." He pulled me up and into the bunkroom to the bottom bunk on the left. He motioned for me to crawl in first giving me the spot by the wall, and a couple seconds later crawled in after me, shutting the curtain behind us. There was no one else in the bunkroom.

"Alone at last, Mr. Stump." I smiled. "What shall we do now?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I was thinking, maybe a little of this…" He kissed me hard and long on the mouth. "And just maybe a little of this…" He moved his lips downward onto my neck. And then he pulled back and looked at me and smiled. "But what do you think?"

I only thought for a second. I knew I was ready for this. "Well, those are both very nice but I was thinking more along the lines of _this_…" I used my very best seductive voice and moved my hands down to the button on his jeans and slowly unbuttoned and unzipped them. He paused very shortly before beginning kissing me again, both of us slowly working on taking off the other one's clothes. After a few minutes, I was down to my panties and he down to only his boxers, both of us too busy to notice the whispers coming from the other side of the curtain, before it was too late. The curtain was jerked back, but none other than Pete.

"Oh come on guys, we all have to share this bunkroom." He stated, trying to hold back the same hysterical laughter that was coming from Andy and Joe who were standing right behind him. Both of them were laughing so hard they couldn't talk, and Andy was doubled over, clutching his stomach. Before I could think to move, Patrick threw himself in front of me, giving me time to cover myself with the sheet under us.

"Pete! Get the hell out right now, or I swear I'll fucking kill you!" I had never seen Patrick that angry.

"Alright, alright. Calm down buddy." Pete said with a grin, backing away and putting his hands out in front of him. "We just didn't know what was going on in there. It sounded like you were getting mauled by a huge ass grizzly or something." This comment sent all three of the guys into another bout of hysterical laughter and Patrick jumped out of the bed and pulled the curtain shut it one swift movement. I heard Kylie come in as I rushed to pull my shirt back over my head, before he opened the curtain to get back in.

"Jeez, guys…what the hell's going on?" She said curiously. Patrick was the only one not laughing so he was the only one who replied.

"Ask Pete. And meanwhile get him out of my face, before I punch the living shit out of him."

"Come on guys. Leave Patrick alone and let him cool down." I knew she was ushering them out of the room. "You guys can be such assholes sometimes." I could hear the disapproval in her voice, mixed with a hint of amusement as she lectured them.

After they were gone, Patrick climbed back in the bed, shutting the curtain behind him. He groaned as he lay back and pulled me over close to him.

"Calm down." I tried soothingly. "They were just joking." I was kinda mad myself but I hated seeing him upset.

"God, why am I such an idiot?" He closed his eyes. "I should have known we can't have any privacy on this stupid bus."

"You are not an idiot. We both just got caught up in the moment and didn't realize they were out there. Calm down!" I kissed his cheek softly and laid my head on his chest. "And besides, I had a lot of fun before they stopped us." I said with a grin. "And now we have some fun to save for another night."

He looked at me and his scowl disappeared and turned into a chuckle.

"That's very true." He smiled, covering us both with the blanket. "I can't wait."

"Me neither." I relaxed in his arms, in the coziness of the small bunk and we both quickly fell asleep.

**A/N- I hope you liked it! Thanks for the reviews I've gotten, I love hearing what people think! And also thanks to Mrs. Chaos, my awesome beta reader, who totally helped me not make this chapter a trainwreck. :) If you read, please review, even if you hate it, I like getting feedback! **


	8. Chapter 8

It didn't seem that long before I awoke to a gentle shaking and Patrick's voice in my ear.

"Hey Spencer…." His voice was the perfect thing to wake up to, no matter how much I wanted to keep sleeping. "Spencer…sweetie…"

"Hmmmm."I groaned sleepily, just to let him know I was awake. He chuckled slightly.

"Come on Spencer. You gotta wake up." He asked so nicely that I would have done anything for that boy.

I sat up slowly and rubbed my eyes. When I opened them, he was staring at me with a tired smile. It looked to me like he hadn't slept any.

"What time is it? And where are we?" I stretched my arms as much as I could in the small bunk.

"Oh, you've only been asleep for about an hour, but we're at my house." I must have looked confused because he went on to explain. "See, we're playing a show here tomorrow, but then we don't have to leave to head anywhere else for about 5 days. So since we have our own houses in L.A. , we're just gonna chill at home until then."

"Oh. Ok." I smiled and tried to smooth down the side of my hair which had become utterly hopeless in my hour of sleep. "Why is it so quiet?" I asked pulling myself out of the bunk as Patrick and I both gathered our stuff.

"We're the only ones on here. They all went back to their own houses."

"What about, Kylie? Did she stay with Pete?" I don't know why I even asked. I should have known she did. But he nodded anyway as he waited on me to pick up the last of my necessary provisions.

"Of course. You ready?" I nodded and he led the way off the bus. I struggled to get my suitcase down the bus steps and he turned around to check on me. A look of shame spread quickly across his face as he rushed over towards me. "Here, let me take that. You shouldn't have to drag that all by yourself." I couldn't help but laugh.

"No, I'm fine, I swear. It's just the stairs, see?" I pulled my suitcase across the ground effortlessly to demonstrate jokingly.

"Are you sure?" He asked with a smile.

"Positive. I'm a big girl, Patrick." I smiled back. Then I turned to face the house and followed him up the driveway. It was beautiful. Exactly what I had always imagined his L.A. home would look like. It wasn't a mansion, by any means. But it was still bigger than any of the houses that I was used to. It made me wonder what his house in Chicago was like. From what he told me, this was just the place he stayed when he was in L.A. on business. As far as he was concerned, Chicago would always be his home. He used his key to open the front door and typed in the code to the alarm system just inside the door.

"So…umm…well…Welcome to my house, I guess." He gestured to the door and motioned me inside. "Make yourself at home, go ahead, look around."

"Let me get my bags first and I will." I bent to pick up the duffle bag that I had let slide to the floor but his hand shot out and grabbed it first.

"No, let me. I'll take them up. The kitchen's through there if you want anything to drink or there's a bathroom across the hall and one upstairs. I'll be down in a second."

"Thanks, Patrick." I kissed his cheek and he smiled. Then I turned and started to make my way to the kitchen. I quickly found a glass and filled it with ice. I opened up the fridge, reached for the water pitcher and poured myself a drink. I stood with the fridge open as I drank, observing the contents. There was a half-gallon of expired milk, some cheese slices, a package of hotdogs, with 3 left, and some packets of ketchup. I could see we were going to have to do some grocery shopping. I explore the rest of the kitchen and the living room and was looking out onto the back patio at the pool and hot tub when Patrick touched my shoulder. I turned around and wrapped myself into his arms.

"Ready to go back to bed? He asked pulling me in tighter to his chest. I nodded sleepily and he led me up the stairs into the first room on the left. I was so tired, I didn't even bother to look where I was walking. Patrick was leading me anyway. We laid down on the bed and snuggled up close and I was out like a light.

The next morning I woke up before Patrick did and I slid quietly out of bed and into the bathroom where he had laid my makeup bag. I showered, dressed, and brushed my teeth as quickly as possible and grabbed a pair of keys of the top of Patrick's dresser. I hadn't even really noticed how his room looked until now. It was so…so…well…normal. It was exactly like any other guy's room in his early twenties. Nothing like you would see on MTV Cribs. I took a glance in the mirror and groaned at the state my hair was in. I couldn't do anything with it today. I tiptoed over to the closet where the top shelf was completely filled with hats. I looked through them carefully and tried to find one I liked. I picked out the one that I thought was my favorite and positioned it on my head well enough to hide my hair's sad state and slipped down the stairs into the garage.

I unlocked the Honda Civic and slid into the driver's seat. I pushed the button on the garage door opener and backed out of the driveway into the street. It took me a while but I finally found a grocery store and pulled the car swiftly into the parking lot. I stayed there for almost an hour, loading up on all the food that I knew Patrick would eat and then I headed back home. I wanted to get back before he woke up and wondered why I stole his car.

I got back home at around 11:00 and I knew he would be waking up soon, so I put the groceries away as quietly as I could, poured myself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table to eat it.

As I was finishing up, I heard footsteps upstairs. I carried my bowl and spoon to the sink and turned on the faucet.

"Spencer?" I could hear the sleep, still in his voice as the footsteps descended the stairs. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen." He entered the room and rubbed the top of his head, flattening his hair down, with a sleepy smile.

"Sorry, I probably don't have any food. We'll have to go to the store." He looked at me curiously. "Is that my hat?"

"Yeah, it is." I laughed. "And don't worry. I already went to the store while you were sleeping. Want some cereal?" I held up the box as he laughed and nodded his head.

"Sure." He said taking the box from me. "But how did you get there?"

"Your car." I grinned at him and dangled his keys in the air.

"Spencer!" He said in mock surprise. "I'm appalled! Grand Theft Auto?"

"Nope. Just borrowed." He laughed and stood behind me, his arms wrapped around my waist, as I poured his cereal.

The rest of the day we just hung around the house. He suggested swimming but by that time it was 4:30 and the concert was approaching fast, so we decided against it. The bus would be by to pick us up soon, which seemed pointless as Patrick had his own car and the show was here in L.A. Of course, it was part of the image. Who would expect the singer of a rock band to show up to a big L.A. concert in his Honda Civic?

I was completely amazed by the amount of people that showed up for this concert. I didn't see hardly one empty spot in the crowd. Luckily, neither Kylie or I had to deal with the crowd as we took advantage of our backstage passes.

After the show, we all ended up back on the bus trying to figure out what to do for the night.

"We have to go to a club! That would be so awesome, wouldn't it Spencer?" Kylie asked, ecstatically, hopping up and down all over the bus.

"A club, Ky? I don't know." I replied, skeptically. "Why do you want to go to a club?" I had to admit, she was certainly dressed more for going clubbing than to a Fall Out Boy concert. But when I had asked her about it earlier, she had looked at me like I was crazy and exclaimed something about the best and worst dressed lists. That had made me laugh. Like anyone cared what she wore.

"Well we can't spend time in L.A. and not go to a club, can we? You know, 'When in Hollywood …'" She begged and pleaded with me trying to get me to go until I finally gave in and said I would.

"But just tonight." I added sternly. "But don't expect me to do this again."

"Oh, thank you, thank you." She said with a squeal. "Besides, you'll have fun!"

"I doubt it." I muttered under my breath, where she couldn't hear.

She managed to talk Joe, Andy, and of course Pete into coming too. The only reason Patrick let himself be roped into it was to stay with me.

Around midnight, we arrived at the club and were immediately ushered in because of the boys' "celebrity status". My jaw dropped as we entered and I looked around. The dance floor was packed with people and I guess the club should be nearing its limit. The fluorescent, bright lights danced around the room, highlighting the profiles of the people at the bar and on the floor. My eyes widened even more, as I witnessed, along with many other people in the club, two burly looking men practically carrying out a very drunk heiress, that I had always seen gracing the covers of the tabloids, in the check-out lane at Wal-mart. Paparazzi hurled themselves in front of me, knocking me backwards into Patrick as they snapped pictures of the heiress sure to be all over the internet by tomorrow morning.

"So should we dance?" Yelled Patrick over the music, as he shot a dirty look at the paparazzi. I shook my head.

"I'm not much of a dancer." I yelled back, smiling. I was so hard to hear about the thumping bass line of the song that was playing. He smiled back. "Let's find some place quieter where we can sit." He nodded and led me by the hand through the awkward crowd to the seats against the wall furthest from the speakers. We sat down and watched Kylie dance with random people, while Pete was at the bar getting drinks for them both. About 45 minutes later, I couldn't handle it anymore. I had to get out of there, it was driving me crazy. Patrick found Andy and Joe, who weren't having much fun either and we all headed out to the bus.

"God, did you hear that awful crap they were playing?" Andy asked jokingly as he flopped onto the couch.

"How could anyone not hear it?" answered Joe with a laugh. "I think my ears are bleeding." Patrick looked at me and chuckled.

"Do you think they'll be mad we left them?" I asked, smiling.

"Nah," Andy shook his head. "Kylie was majorly drunk when I saw her and Pete wasn't much better off. They'll probably just take a cab home, if they don't pass out first."

We all laughed at that but secretly I felt a little guilty just leaving Kylie like that. The driver dropped Patrick and me off first because his house was the closest to the night club. We climbed off the bus, waving goodbye to Joe and Andy, as I drug my feet sleepily up the driveway.

"Sleepy?" Patrick asked as he unlocked the door. I nodded. He looked at me with a smile as I started towards the staircase. Before I knew it, he had me in his arms, awkwardly, carrying me up the stairs. I wanted to protest, but I was too tired so I just laughed. He laid me down gently on the right side of his bed, pulled my shoes off and tossed them against the wall. I wriggled out of my jeans and crawled under the covers, him sliding in quietly beside me.

"Thanks, Patrick…"I mumbled tiredly.

"No problem." He said as he kissed me goodnight. "Sweet dreams."

"You too. 'Night."

"Goodnight."

I called Kylie the next afternoon, making sure she got home safe. She was a little hung-over, but otherwise fine and she was begging me to hit another club with her that night. I laughed but said no. I didn't want to do that again, but she had loved it. She and Pete made plans to go to a different club each night as long as we were in L.A. I had a bad feeling about that. I just knew something terrible would happen. But she dismissed my warnings, calling me a worrywart. But I was right. And she found that out the hard way on our next to last night in L.A.

It was 1:00 AM, and I was laying on the couch, my head in Patrick's lap, watching reruns of an old TV series.

"Are you ready for bed?" he asked, Smiling down at me.

"Not really. I'm not tired at all. Why? Are you?" He laughed and shook his head.

"Nope, I'm not tired either. I was thinking, if you want to, we could take a late night swim."

"Sure. That sounds fun." I grinned. I loved to swim, especially at night. "I'll go change." I hurried up the stairs and rustled through my suitcase till I found it. I couldn't find my bathing suit before I left home and so Chelsey had lent me one. I went into the bathroom and put it on, in case Patrick needed in his room to change. As soon as I put it on, I had second thoughts about swimming. Chelsey's bathing suit was very revealing. I just hadn't realized it till now. I had to admit, it was a cute bathing suit. It was lime green and brown stripes. But it made me want to wear a t-shirt over it.

No. I wasn't going to be silly about this. Why should it matter what the bathing suit looked like? It was almost 1:30 in the morning and Patrick's backyard had a privacy fence around it anyway. No one would see me in it besides him. I tied the strings that went around my neck first and then the ones that went around my back. Then I headed down the stairs. I didn't see Patrick anywhere. I decided to wait for him on the back deck. My bare feet padded softly across the kitchen floor towards the back door. I opened it slowly and turned on the light so I could see.

"Patrick?" I called on to the dimly lit deck. "You out here?" No response. I saw something sitting beside the edge of the pool. In the darkness I couldn't make out what it was. I tip toed over there and saw there were two folded beach towels stacked beside the pool. Had he come out here already and went back in? Just then I heard a sound behind me but before I could turn around, two arms wrapped around me, one around my waist and one over my mouth to keep me from shrieking, as we both fell into the ice cold water of the pool.

I resurfaced to find Patrick laughing hysterically as I sputtered and wiped the water from my eyes.

"Oh my god, that was not funny!" I yelled. "You scared the piss outta me!" He just laughed harder. I attempted to glare at him, but I failed, bursting out in laughter myself. I couldn't stay made at him for more than a second. "Ok, fine. It was funny." I smiled. "But now I get to get revenge!" I jumped at him quickly, pushing him backwards and his head under the water.

"Hey!" he said, when he came back up. "You got my hat all wet!" I looked at him and sure enough, he was still wearing his hat.

"Well who wears their hat swimming?" I asked with a giggle. "Besides you got my hair wet and now it looks like crap. Plus it's freezing in here." I shivered for dramatic effect.

"Fine, let's get in the hot tub then." He said with a grin, as he pushed himself up on the side of the pool and stood up. He stuck his hand out and offered it to me. I took it and he helped me out of the pool.

We slipped into the hot tub. And he smiled at me.

"Better?"

"Much." I assured him. "But my hair still looks like crap, so we didn't fix all the problems did we?" He laughed and cupped my chin with his hands.

"I don't care what your hair looks like. You'll always be beautiful to me." He kissed me lightly on the lips over and over. Each time a little longer and more passionate, until we were both lost in a hot make out session. I had to pull away to catch my breath and when I did, we both laughed nervously.

"You know…" He started but didn't finish his thought.

"What?" I asked, regaining my breath slowly.

"We're alone now." He laughed and his voice got softer. "There wouldn't be any interruptions if we decided we wanted to…try it again…." He smiled his crooked little smile. I nodded.

"That sounds wonderful." I said, right before he started kissing me again, this time very deeply and he pulled me onto his lap where I ended up straddling him. He rubbed his hands up and down, from the bottom of my back to my neck, slowly and first and then faster. Gradually he worked up the nerve to untie the strings of my bathing suit top and I felt a rush of warm water as pulled it completely off and tossed it onto the deck. He started kissing at my neck slowly working his way past my collarbone and down my chest until he met the water line.

My nervousness showed once again as I untied the string on his bathing suit, my fingers fumbling at first. He noticed my slight struggle and turned over so he was standing and leaning over me. I tugged on the waistband of his swim trunks slowly pulling them down inch by inch until he was completely naked except for his wet hat. He kissed me again, harder this time, our bare chests pressing together tightly, our kissing getting deeper and deeper. He moved to where his legs were in between mine, and he slid his hand slowly up the back of my thigh and worked his hand under my bikini bottoms, touching me softly as he went. I could feel him pressing against me anxiously, so I quickly helped him shed the rest of my swimsuit. I braced myself as he positioned himself between my legs. I felt the pain and winced as he entered, slowly and gently, stopping every few moments to make sure I was alright. Despite the pain, It felt good somehow, like it was meant to be. And this was something that no one would ever be able to take away from us. Something that I would always remember.

About 30 minutes later, we were still sitting together naked in the hot tub. He kissed me again, as I buried myself in his arms. Out of nowhere, I heard a high pitched voice calling my name and a knock on the wooden gate.

"Sppencerrr." I strained to recognized the slurred voice outside the gate. "Spppencerrr. Are you back therrre?" It was Kylie and she sounded like she was crying or had too much to drink…or maybe both. I mouthed to Patrick that it was Kylie and waved him towards the house. He climbed out and grabbed his towel, running inside, being careful to shut the door quietly. I pulled on my swimsuit quickly, and grabbed a towel. I ran over to the gate and pulled it open.

"Kylie! What are you doing here?" I grabbed her wrist and slowly pulled her inside, causing her to stumble. Yep. Crying and drunk. She whined something unintelligible and started to cry harder. "Come on, let's get you inside." I put her arm around my shoulder and helped her into the house, struggling all the while to keep her from falling down. Once we got into the kitchen, I pushed her down into a chair at the kitchen table.

"I knocked at the door and called you and Patrick both, but no one would answer me…" She said through her tears. "…so I came around to the fence cause I heard something splashing and…"

"Kylie, calm down." I soothed. "I'm here now. Ok?" She nodded. "Listen, I'm going to make you some coffee, while you tell me what happened. Now, is it Pete?"

"Uh-huh." She sniffed, trying to hold back more tears. "We werrre at this club, aand I had a few drinks…"

"A few, Kylie?" I interrupted. "How many exactly?" She shook her head.

"I don't remember…"She admitted. "But I got a text and so I looked at mmmy phone…and Pete…he usually wants to leave kinda early so I was gonna find him and go …but I-I couldn't find him aaanywhere." She was starting to get hysterical again.

"Kylie, it's ok. Just try to stay calm." I patted her hand as I handed her a cup of coffee. She nodded and took a sip.

"Sorry…" she apologized. "Anyway…me and him were both reeeeaaallly drunk so we were gonna take a cab home…but I kept looking and looking but I couldn't find him…and youu know what?"

"What?"

"He had already left and forgot me." She sniffed. "And I went to his house and I was ready to tell him off….but then I opened the bedroom door and he was having sex with some whore!! Can you believe it?! Some random fucking slut he met at the club! Spencer, I could have killed him! I was so pissed!!"

"He cheated on you?!" I was surprised at the amount of shock in my voice. Of course, my head had told me that they wouldn't last, but I guess I had always secretly hoped they would. She just nodded and burst into tears. "What did you do?"

"I-I just stood there, like an idiot, until he turned around and saw me, and you know what he said?...He said 'Oh…hi Kylie.' Like we just happened to run into each other on the damn street or something. I couldn't stand to be there anymore so I came here…It was the only place I could think of to go…I'm sorry if I bothered you guys…"

"No, Ky. " I pulled her into a hug and let her cry. "Patrick was already in bed and I was just taking a late night swim because I couldn't sleep." I lied. "Don't worry about it. You can sleep in the guest room. Patrick won't care." She sat back up and looked at me with sad eyes.

"Thanks, Spencer."

"No problem. Come on."

I led her up the stairs and past Patrick's room to the guest room door. I said goodnight to her and made my way back down the hall. Patrick was sitting on the edge of the bed, a concerned look on his face. "What happened? Was she crying?"

"Yeah she was crying." I admitted. "Pete was a total asshole tonight."

"What did he say to her?"

"Well, it's not what he said that matters. It's what he did." A look of realization swept over his face.

"No way. He didn't." I nodded.

"He did. He got so drunk he left her at the club and when she got home he was screwing some other girl. She walked in on them."

"God, he is such a fucking idiot."

"No kidding." He pulled me down onto his lap and kissed me.

"You know…before Kylie got here…I had a lot of fun." A smirk crawled across his face. I smiled back.

"Me too. I just can't stop thinking about what a jerk he is. I hate seeing her torn up like that."

"Well, I could help you think about something else if you want." He said, the smirk getting bigger. I decided to play along.

"Oh really?" I grinned. "And how do you propose to do that?"

"Well," He started, removing my bikini top for the second time. "You won't be needing this." We both laughed as he leaned me back onto the bed, tugging at my bottoms at the same time. "And you _definitely_ won't be needing these."

"Hmmm…I like this idea." Pulling his hat off and running my fingers through his hair. "But aren't you a little over prepared yourself?" I gestured at his boxers and smiled.

As soon as I said that, they hit the floor. And we were at it again, this time better than the last. By the time we ended up going to sleep. It was almost 4:00. Besides worrying about Kylie, everything in my life was perfect right now. I felt his arms around me, as I layed in bed. Without thinking, I blurted it out. "I-I love you, Patrick." Immediately I felt ashamed. What if he didn't feel the same? But I had no need to worry, because Patrick's deep breathing next to me let me know he was already asleep. He hadn't heard a word I had said. In a way, I was grateful for that. I sighed and pulled the covers up under my chin, shivering, due to the fact that neither of us had bothered to put on clothes afterwards. I tried to clear my mind as well as I could and in a minute, I was lost deep in my dreams.

* * *

**A/N: This was kind of a long chapter too! I can't ever find a good place to stop. But as always, thanks to my wonderful beta reader _Mrs. Chaos_ for helping me correct my mistakes and for giving me amazing ideas when I'm stuck. This story would be pretty sucky without her help. Also, thanks to everyone who has read and especially the ones who story alerted and/or favorited it. Mostly thanks to the reviewers! Your praise and comments is what keeps me writing! If you read, please review!! It makes me so happy. :)**


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